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The Story of the 



An E 




History 



t\ 



By 
Sanford H. Cobb 



New York & London 
G. P. Putnam's Sons 

1897 



Bj transfer 



Pi3 



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L. '— ''^ 



Copyright, 1897 

BY 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 
Entered at Stationers' Hall, London 



TEbe Itniclierbocher prces, flew fiork 



TO THE 

CHILDREN OF THE PALATINES 

MY 

OLD PARISHIONERS 

IN THE 

HIGH-DUTCH CHURCHES 

OF 

SCHOHARIE AND SAUGERTIES 



PREFATORY NOTE. 



MANY letters, received since the fact be- 
came known that the pubhcation of 
this Story of the Palatines was con- 
templated, render it proper to state, by way of 
preface, that the book is purely historical and 
in no sense genealogical. The sole attempt 
has been to narrate, in as brief compass as was 
consistent with the value and interest of the 
facts, the story of a people. The tracing of 
the lines of family descent did not come within 
the scope of such a narrative. To do that for 
all the Palatines would be work for more than 
a lifetime ; and were it done, the record thereof 
would be out of place in a book designed for 
the general historical student. 

Nor has any attempt been made to transfer 
to these pages the name-lists of the several 
immigrations. The Docjimentary History of 



vi Prefatory Note 

New York contains the list of those who came 
in 1 708 with Kockerthal, and also some names 
of those settled at the two Camps. The Penn- 
sylvania Archives contain lists of over thirty 
thousand names of those who came to Penn- 
sylvania. These lists have been published by 
Rupp, who also gives names of Palatines on 
the Hudson in 1 71 1. Beyond these the author 
does not know of other lists accessible in this 
country. Nor is he aware that any lists have 
been preserved in London of the immigrations 
to North Carolina and Virginia, and of that to 
New York in 1710. Of this last company 
Rupp's list of Palatines on the Hudson is a 
very incomplete record, as many of the people 
died on the voyage, and many on Governor's 
Island, while about three hundred settled in 
the city of New York. 

Such lists, however, are not needed for the 
purpose of this work. The addition of them 
to the present volume would swell it beyond 
reasonable limits, and defeat the chief aim of 
its writing, viz. : the giving to the general stu- 
dent of American history an account, not now 
widely known, of one distinct and unique ele- 
ment in our colonization, which some historians 



Prefatory Note 



Vll 



have entirely ignored and others have treated 
with undeserved reproach. 

The short collection of Palatine names, given 
in Note I. at the end of the volume, is designed 
only as a specimen list, taken almost at ran- 
dom, to illustrate the permanency of the Pala- 
tine stock, and the changes of form which 
many of the names have suffered. 

S. H. C. 




CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER 

I. Introduction 
II. The Palatinate. 

III. The Exodus 

IV. The Experiment 
V. The Failure 

VI. The Promised Land 

VII. The Dispersion . 

Notes . 

Index . 

Maps : 

I. The Palatine of the Rhine ... 20 

II. The Palatine Settlements of the Hud- 
son, Mohawk, and Schoharie , 148 

III, Palatine Settlements in Pennsylvania . 258 



20 

59 
103 

148 

201 

258 
305^ 
3^3 



THE 

STORY OF THE PALATINES 



CHAPTER I 

INTRODUCTION 

THE reasons for writing this Story of the 
Palatines are several. Chief among 
them are these three : that it has 
never been written in its fulness, or with 
proper regard to its historic importance ; that 
much of the little which has been written 
about it abounds in misunderstandings and 
misstatements ; and that the story truly told 
is one of such intrinsic interest and bears 
such relation to colonial history as to make it 
worthy of regard by every student of American 
society and institutions. 



2 The Palatines 

That which by most people, who know any- 
thing about the Palatine Immigration, is sup- 
posed to be alluded to in any reference to that 
people, is merely the incoming of the large 
company which landed in New York in the 
early summer of 1 7 lo. They made the largest 
body of emigrants coming at one time to this 
country in the colonial period. There were 
nearly three thousand of them, and they were 
perhaps at once the most miserable and most 
hopeful set of people ever set down upon our 
shores. 

But they were not all. A small band had 
preceded them to New York ; about the same 
time as their own coming, a company of seven 
hundred had gone to North Carolina, and 
another company to Virginia ; and in later 
years they were followed by many thousands 
of their countrymen in the Palatinate, the vast 
majority of whom found settlement in Penn- 
sylvania. These various immigrations make 
in reality one story, having, as they do, one 
source and bound together by a common im- 
pulse, constituting a distinct episode in colo- 
nial history well worthy of study, and quite 
unique in its interest and character. 



Introduction 3 

Of these immigrations there are many scat- 
tered notes of mention in Colonial Records, 
and many incidental and fragmentary allusions 
in local histories, sketches, and biographies. 
But of the movement of these people as a 
whole, with the statement of its causes and 
the singular experience to which a large por- 
tion of them came in America, no full or con- 
nected narrative has yet appeared. Much of 
the brief mention accorded to it is with the 
evident assumption that the movement was 
insignificant and possessed of no features 
v/orthy of special comment, save the almost 
unparalleled poverty of the immigration of 
1 710. The allusions to these people are apt 
to lay particular emphasis on that condition. 
They are most frequently called "the poor 
Palatines." So to some writers they seem to 
stand in the history as representative only of 
pauperism, to be dismissed from discussion so 
soon as possible with scant measure of cour- 
tesy or respect. Thus Mrs. Lamb turns them 
out of court with the following contemptuous 
paragraph : 

" These earlier German settlers were mostly hewers 
of wood and drawers of water, differing materially from 



4 The Palatines 

the class of Germans v/ho have since come among us, 
and bearing about the same relation to the English, 
Dutch, and French settlers of their time as the Chinese 
of to-day bear to the American population on the Pacific 
coast." 

With this disparaging comment we may con- 
trast the words by which Macaulay describes 
the same people : 

" Honest, laborious men, who had once been thriving 
burghers of Manheim and Heidelberg, or who had 
cultivated the vine on the banks of the Neckar and 
the Rhine. Their ingenuity and their diligence could 
not fail to enrich any land which should afford them an 
asylum." 

Such contemptuous regard as that of the 
language first quoted is surprising to one who 
has made even a slight study of the story of 
these people, in which are conspicuous other 
features than their poverty, — some worthy to 
engage the positive interest of every student 
of American history, and others fit to compel 
the hearty respect of all lovers of truth and 
manliness. It is a story of severe and unde- 
served suffering worthily borne ; a story of the 
stubborn and unyielding attitude of men who, 



Introduction 5 

for home and faith, endured an almost un- 
equalled fight of afflictions, until at last they 
conquered peace, safety, and freedom. As 
such, the Story of the Palatines challenges our 
sympathy, admiration, and reverence, and is as 
well worth the telling as that of any other co- 
lonial immigration. We may concede that 
their influence on the future development of 
the country and its institutions was not equal 
to the formative power exerted by some other 
contingents. Certainly, they have not left so 
many broad and deep marks upon our history 
as have the Puritans of New England, and 
yet their story is not without definite and per- 
manent monuments of beneficence towards 
American life and institutions. At least one 
among the very greatest of the safeguards of 
American liberty — the Freedom of the Press 
— is distinctly traceable to the resolute bold- 
ness of a Palatine. 

But to create interest in their story it is not 
necessary to assert a superiority of influence. 
The historian is like the geographer in that 
the smaller items, the minor lines and points 
of description, claim from him fully as accu- 
rate, though not as extended, presentation as 



6 The Palatines 

those which are more important. The coast- 
Hne upon the chart is not complete until it in- 
dicates each bay or cove wherein a skiff can 
float, and every rock or bar on which a keel 
may grate. A river map is not finished which 
fails to trace the course of any affluent, though 
it be so small that the deer can cross it at a 
bound. The lover of nature looks with differ- 
ent, and yet equal, interest on the little brook, 
tumbling riverward down the rocks and be- 
neath the forests of the Catskills, and on the 
broad bay at the river's mouth, on which the 
navies of the world might ride. Indeed, it is 
likely that the beauty of the former will en 
chain his eye more strongly than the grandeui 
of the latter. Certainly, he would deny that, 
in order to enlist his regard, the lovely moun- 
tain stream must put on the majesty of the 
sea. So history finds its pleasing task in 
tracing all the streams, both great and small, 
which have run together in a nation's life ; of 
which, while some will challenge admiration 
for their volume and lasting power, others will 
excite interest by their unique experience, not 
to be read without more or less of a sympa- 
thetic thrill. 



Introduction 7 

For such reason — whatever may have been 
the Palatine influence on our institutions — we 
may confidently tell the story of that immigra- 
tion as something quite worthy of regard. We 
may speak of its character, the causes whicli 
gave it rise, the stages of its progress, and the 
exceptional experiences of many of these peo- 
ple during their first fifteen years in America, 
as making a story quite singular and unlike 
any other contained in the history of American 
colonization. Very emphatic are the words 
of Judge Benton, in his Histoiy of Herkimer 
County : 

" The particulars of the immigration of the Palatines 
are worthy of extended notice. The events which pro- 
duced the movement in the heart of an old and polished 
European nation to seek a refuge and home on the 
western continent, are quite as legitimate a subject of 
American history as the oft-repeated relation of the ex- 
periences of the Pilgrim Fathers." 

There are some general features of this 
movement which may be fitly noted here as 
suggestive of special interest. The volume of 
it was very remarkable. The doors of the 
Palatinate seemed to be set open wide, and 
through them poured for forty years an almost 



8 The Palatines 

continuous stream of emigrants, their faces 
set steadfastly towards America. There was 
nothing else like it in the colonial period, for 
numbers and steadiness of inflow. There were 
nearly three thousand of these people in the 
company landed in New York in June and 
July of 1 710. Though the arrivals in port of 
the ships bringing them were at intervals 
through five weeks, stormy seas having sepa- 
rated the vessels, yet the company was one, 
and sailed as such from England under one 
command and with one destination. This was 
the largest single company of immigrants to 
this country until long after the Revolution, 
Their number was indeed inconsiderable when 
compared with the enormous crowds which 
come to America in our day. But at the be- 
ginning of the eighteenth century such an in- 
flux was notable indeed, giving rise to amaze- 
ment and imaginings, and occasion for alarm 
to some timorous minds. The community in 
city and province was set questioning as to the 
meaning of so great an immigration — Whence 
came they? Why in so great number, and in 
so deep poverty ? What could be the object 
of the home government in, not only permit- 



Introduction 9 

ting, but encouraging such an influx of for- 
eigners ? What shall be done with them ? 
How can they be provided for? The ques- 
tionings were many. There were grave specu- 
lations as to the wisdom of introducing so 
large a foreign element into these English 
colonies. When in the following years it was 
seen that this immigration of 1710 was the 
prelude to a continuous stream of people from 
the Palatinate and other parts of the German 
Empire, this cautiousness found voice in 
earnest public speech, and sought restrictive 
power in legislative action. It was loudly de- 
clared in some quarters that the unrestricted 
incoming of alien people, with their strange 
language and manners, might be dangerous to 
colonial government and society. Coming in 
so great numbers and so frequent accessions, 
they might in a short time obtain the majority 
in any community, and "subvert our institu- 
tions." With the French upon our borders — 
it was said — always hostile, frequently stirring 
up the Indians against us, their peace little 
better than an armed truce, is it wise to admit 
other aliens to our very firesides ? 

All this, indeed, did not come to expression 



lo The Palatines 

or to thought at once upon the immigration 
of 1 710, but, most of it, on the continuance of 
the movement then begun ; which continuance 
must be borne in mind in any proper under- 
standing of the Story of the Palatines. As to 
the immediate effect on the colonial mind of 
the coming of this first great immigration of 
the Palatines, it seems to have been mainly 
one of surprise. In those days travel, by land 
or sea, was difficult and with many hardships ; 
the movement of large bodies of people was 
slow ; the voyage across the Atlantic took 
from three to five months, and was made in 
ships devoid of all the comforts which the 
modern traveller considers necessities. The 
landing then of this large company was a most 
notable thing in the history of the Port of 
New York ; and to every on-looking New 
Yorker, whether Dutch or English, assumed 
either the proportions of an invasion or the 
dignity of an exodus. 

Well — it was an Exodus. As we study the 
story of it, we see that the untaught wonder of 
the average on-looker at the time was correct 
in its expression. It was an exodus in the 
full sense in which Bible story has taught us 



Introduction ii 

to use that word — a going forth from the 
house of bondage to a land of promise. It 
was not the incoming of a rabble of distressed 
humanity, hurried onward by the mere force 
of their misery — objects only for compassion. 
It was not a mere company of people deceived 
by agents of colonization schemes, and to be 
looked upon only as " objects of speculation." 
Nor are this people to be considered as merely 
moved by that unreasoning unrest which at 
times takes possession of the popular mind 
with such collective force as to set in motion 
migrations and invasions. All of these con- 
structions of the Palatine immigration have 
severally been suggested and more or less em- 
phasized by those who have alluded to it. 

But it is not difficult to show that such con- 
ceptions are unworthy and far below the real 
dignity of the movement. Attentive regard 
will discover in it motives and reasons far 
higher than anything which poverty, or unrest, 
or speculation can originate. It presents the 
impulse, the spirit, the patience, and the hope 
which a genuine exodus involves. These men 
were men of principle, who had suffered much 
for principle and steadfastness therein. The 



12 The Palatines 

very poverty, which to some critics seems sug- 
gestive only of opprobrium, had come upon 
them for such steadfastness. Their story 
rightly told must tell of statecraft and church 
polity, of the movements and campaigns of 
armies. It must speak of sufferings which 
approach to martyrdom, of the dark crimes 
possible to kings and priests, of the oppres- 
sions wrought by unbridled power and the 
passive resistance offered by a steadfast ad- 
herence to truth. The Pilgrim Fathers were 
not the only company who sought in this 
western world " Freedom to worship God." 
The fact is that, if ever a body of emigrants 
came to America from under the hand of the 
oppressor, such were these Palatines ; and if 
ever the thought of religious liberty constrained 
men to leave their native land for hoped-for 
freedom in America, such hope was powerful 
with these children of the Palatinate. Hence 
it is, that the story of their coming hither, 
with the bitterness and pathos of their an- 
tecedent suffering and endurance, and the 
sturdiness of their unconquerable faith and 
determination to wrest fortune and happiness 
out of the very talons of despair, is one that 



Introduction 13 

should be better known to the student of 
American history. 

In addition to that experience of affliction 
in the Palatinate which w-as the expelling 
cause of the migration, there are other ele- 
ments of the story which give it singular 
interest and unique place in colonial annals. 
Perhaps never were a people the objects of 
such kindly treatment and so lavish gener- 
osity as the first few thousands of the Palatines 
experienced at the hands of the English, the 
Queen and her subjects vying in the effort to 
provide for their necessities. That chapter is 
unexampled elsewhere in history. Equally 
unexampled in the history of our colonial 
period is the story of the privation, distress, 
fraud, and cruel disappointment to which were 
subjected that large immigration to New York 
in 1 710. Their experience was utterly unlike 
that of all other bodies of colonists. Those 
of their countrymen who came in after years, 
as did emigrants from Enoland or other Euro- 
pean countries, met no such distresses, and 
were under the pleasing compulsion only to 
subdue the wilderness and make for them- 
selves homes in a new land. But the Palatine 



14 The Palatines 

immigrants of 1710 found, to their bitter sor- 
row, that they had only made an exchange of 
masters. For fifteen years they suffered, with 
a disappointment of their hopes, a continuance 
of afBiction ; they were cheated and oppressed, 
and became the helpless victims of vindictive 
and rapacious men. Much of their affliction 
in America is set down by some writers to 
their own ignorance and obstinacy. But it 
will appear that their ignorance was rather an 
unwise trust in the promises of those in power, 
and that without their obstinacy, which in Eu- 
rope had maintained their faith, they never, in 
that generation at least, would have found in 
America security of home and freedom. This, 
to the average reader, will seem a strange 
statement as descriptive of any community 
in the colonial period. Of that period, the 
most prominent conception is of an era in 
which the oppressed of the Old World found 
without failure an unrestrained freedom on 
American shores. For the most part this con- 
ception is true ; and it is the unlikeness of this 
description to the early fate of these Pala- 
tines in New York which makes their ex- 
perience during the first decade and a half 



Introduction 15 

so remarkable an episode in the history of 
the colonies. 

As to the permanent influence of this Pala- 
tine immigration, it goes without the saying 
that it were impossible for such sturdiness of 
stock, such patient and firm persistence in the 
right, such capacity for endurance, and such 
buoyancy of hope, conjoined with such addic- 
tion to religion, to be absorbed into American 
life without a deep impress on the character 
of after generations. Nor does the historian 
wait long for its testimony. Solely on ac- 
count of the large influx of this German, and 
chiefly Palatine, element into Pennsylvania, 
bringing thither their qualities of industry, 
thrift, steadiness, and piety, the contemporary 
historian, Mortimer, declared that " Pennsyl- 
vania is since become by far the most popu- 
lous and flourishing colony for its standing of 
any in British America."* So early did the 
beneficial efl"ects of this immigration begin to 
manifest themselves. 

And to this day we can see with small effort 
the reproduction in the population of the Key- 
stone State of that same moral earnestness, 

* History of England, iii., 233. 



1 6 The Palatines 

soberness of mind, and unflinching persistence 
which composed the "staying" quaHties of 
the early Palatines. 

In like manner a similar monument is left 
in New York, in many towns in the Hudson 
and Mohawk valleys, and on the banks of the 
beautiful Schoharie, wherein are found many 
names of the early migration, families in direct 
descent and with the same old High Dutch 
leaven, delighting in memories of the fathers, 
steadily ambitious to emulate their virtues, 
thrifty, industrious, intelligent, and godly. Out 
of this stock came many who were second to 
none in the ardor of the Revolution. Far 
better than most of the people of the colonies 
they knew what it was to suffer under the 
hand of the oppressor, and by contrast how 
desirable were the blessings of liberty. Whole 
companies of them went to the front, — brave 
and loyal always, — first against the French 
and Indians, and afterwards against the Brit- 
ish. They were largely Palatines whom Herki- 
mer led to the battle of Oriskany, "of all the 
battles of the Revolution, the most obstinate 
and murderous."* It was to the Americans 

* Fiske's Am, Revolution, i,, 292. 



Introduction 1 7 

a technical defeat, indeed, but one of those 
defeats which rival victories ; for it shattered 
the plans of the British campaign, sent St. 
Leger with his regulars and Indians back to 
Oswego, and delivered Burgoyne into the 
hands of Gates. 

Herkimer, than whom no braver man fought 
in the War for Independence, was the son of 
a Palatine immigrant, and lends his glory to 
their story. Other names might be cited in 
the same category of Palatine extraction and 
honorable public service. A stock that pro- 
duced such virile and widely serviceable char- 
acters as Weiser, Herkimer, Heister, and the 
Muhlenbergs, — of which last name no less 
than four of those who bore it have laid 
America under tribute for praise and honor, 
— such a stock should not be considered the 
least significant or influential among those 
which have made our country what it is. 

These then are the reasons for telling 
this Story of the Palatines. We would res- 
cue it from undeserved obloquy. The tale 
will take us far afield. We have not only to 
look at that miserable company — sick, dis- 
couraged, sordid in their poverty and deci- 



i8 The Palatines 

mated by disease — landing at New York in 
the summer of 1710. We have to inquire 
what thrust them into that evil case. We will 
need to visit the land which they and their 
followers spurned with migrating foot. We 
must see them ground between the upper and 
nether millstones of kingcraft and priestcraft. 
We will have to follow the tracks of armies, 
and listen to some of the contentions of royal 
cabinets. Then across the sea in the new 
land we shall note their various settlements 
and dispersion. 

The sources of information on many points 
are far from full, leaving many gaps in the 
narrative which the reader wishes to have 
filled. Yet comparison of the accessible data 
makes it possible to construct a tale, which we 
do not hesitate to publish as the true Story of 
the Palatines, and which is confidently offered 
as a thing of interest and value to the student 
of American history. 

It is probable that many more items of the 
story might be found in the papers of the 
Lords of Trade, preserved in London, and in 
other archives of the English Government. 
But the labor and expense of consulting them 



Introduction 19 

do not seem demanded by the task in hand. 
All the main facts and much of the minute de- 
tail are accessible in this country. It will be 
seen from the list of authorities cited, that no 
small pains have been bestowed to arrive at a 
true understanding of the facts, and to place 
this Episode in its deserved position among 
the records of our colonial times.* 

* See Note III. 




CHAPTER II. 



THE PALATINATE. 



THE name of the Palatinate, as that of a 
political division, disappeared from the 
map of Europe before the opening of 
the present century, the principality being 
finally shattered by the Napoleonic wars. 
From the thirteenth century to the close of 
the eighteenth it maintained a varying import- 
ance among the continental powers. Its 
boundaries were changeable with the shifting 
fortunes of diplomacy and war. Situated be- 
tween the greater and rival powers of France 
and the German princes, its soil was the frequent 
path of armies and field of battle. Either of 
the greater combatants, but more frequently 
the French, was wont to appropriate what 
towns and castles, what broad acres and treas- 
ures of the Palatinate he thought himself able 



koln 

HEINE-CK 




PALATINATE 

or the: 

RHINE 



BOUNDARY OF 

ORd/KTUST CONTKKCTION 



The Palatinate 21 

to retain. In the settlement of treaties, how- 
ever, when each contestant was wearied by the 
war, and when, more often than otherwise, the 
status quo was re-established — proof of the folly 
of the war — the reigning prince of the Pala- 
tinate was apt to come to his own again. 

There were, in fact, two Palatinates — dis- 
tinguished as the Upper, or Bavarian, Palati- 
nate, and the Lower, or Palatinate of the Rhine 
— or the Pfalz. The latter, with which alone 
this story is concerned, was by far the more 
important, and so overshadowed the other that, 
when the name Palatinate was used without 
qualifying word, the understanding was of the 
Rhenish province. Its boundaries may be 
somewhat vaguely stated as the states of 
Mainz, Treves, Lorraine, Alsace, Baden, and 
Wurtemberg ; boundaries subject to more or 
less of expansion and contraction, according 
as one or other of its little provinces became 
the spoil of war. Its lands lay on both sides 
of the Rhine, extending from near Cologne 
above Mannheim and containing somewhat 
less than 3500 square miles. Its capital was 
Heidelberg and its principal cities were May- 
ence. Spires, Mannheim, and Worms, all of 



22 The Palatines 

which, with still others, have obtained famous 
place in history. 

The origin of the name. Palatinate is notable. 
Derived from the title of its ruler, it means the 
principality of the Palatine. This title, Pala- 
tine, is in itself peculiar, and receives its ex- 
planation from imperial institution. It is 
supposed by some writers to go so far back as to 
imperial Rome and to the Palatine Hill, with 
its palace of the Caesars.* Others date the 
title from the time of the Merovlnoflan kinsfs 
of France, with whose court was connected a 
high judicial officer, called comes palatii. He 
was Master of the royal household, " and had 
supreme authority In all causes which came by 
fiction to the king. When the sovereign 
wished to confer peculiar favor upon the holder 
of any fief under him, he granted him the right 
to exercise the same power in his province as 
the Comes Palatii exercised in the royal pal- 
ace. With this function went the title Conies 
Palatinus, Count Palatine, and from the ruler 
the province received its name." 

Butler f gives a somewhat broader explana- 

* Appleton's Ani. Cyc. 

\ Revolutions in Germany, Proofs and Illustrations, p. 45. 



The Palatinate 23 

tion of the title, as one conferred by the Em- 
peror in the Middle Ages upon those who in 
his name administered justice to the empire. 
Evidently the original intention of the officer 
was with the idea of a High Court of Justice. 
As such the title is even found in English his- 
tory, conferred by both William I. and Henry 
H. on nobles in the centre and west of Eng- 
land. As an English title it soon passed away, 
but retained its place for centuries upon the 
Continent. Under the old Hungarian consti- 
tution it was the title of the royal lieutenant, 
who at a later period officiated as mediator 
between the nation and the sovereign, and as 
President in the upper house of the Diet. Also 
in Poland the title obtained for the governors 
of the larger divisions of the kingdom. None 
of these ever achieved as Count Palatine, any 
historical prominence. The chief significance 
of the title is found in the story of the Palati- 
nate, the ruler of which was a king in everything 
but name, and frequently exercised large in- 
fluence on European politics. 

Now, the curious thing in historical nomen- 
clature is that, unlike all other princes, the 
ruler of the Palatinate did not receive his title 



24 The Palatines 

from the land he governed, but from his title 
gave the name to his dominions. Louis XIV., 
with all his magnificence, took his title from 
his realm and was known as King of France. 
But the Count Palatine was not so named be- 
cause he ruled the Palatinate, but that country 
was the Palatinate because its ruler was a Pal- 
atine. Another curious thing is that the peo- 
ple of the Palatinate were described by the 
same name as their prince. They were all 
Palatines together, a title with him descriptive 
of place, honor, and authority, but with them 
only of birth and nationality. Such, indeed, 
is the fact with respect to all the emigrants 
from that country, though how widely the 
name may have obtained in continental usage 
does not appear. It is somewhat curious that 
these people should at times be called Palati- 
nates — a misnomer which is almost grotesque. 
It is the same sort of absurdity as though one, 
in speaking of Englishmen, should call them 
Englands. Palatinate is the name of the coun- 
try and never properly used for its inhabitants, 
who are always to be called Palatines, with 
their princes. As a name for the American 
immigrants, indeed, it had obtained such vogue, 



The Palatinate 25 

doubtless in consequence of the impression 
made on the colonial mind by the character 
and volume of the early immigration of that 
people, that for many years all Germans com- 
ing to this country, whether from the Palatin- 
ate or other provinces of the Fatherland, were 
called Palatines. 

At the first the title of Count Palatine sig- 
nified only a personal office, expiring with the 
life of its possessor, and to be renewed only 
on the pleasure of the Emperor in such per- 
son as his favor should designate. Probably 
under such conditions, and with such limita- 
tion of tenure, the title may have been more 
widely conferred as special and personal mark 
of imperial regard. In many such cases it must 
have been a title more of honor than of author- 
ity. This personal and temporary character 
certainly obtained with the Palatines of Eng- 
land, Hungary, and Poland. As early as the 
twelfth century, however, the title of the Pala- 
tines of the Rhine became hereditary, and no 
longer dependent on the favor of the Emperor. 
Until near the end of the thirteenth century 
the Palatines of the Rhine were the Dukes of 
Bavaria, the last of whom to bear both digni- 



26 The Palatines 

ties was Louis, the Severe. He died in 1294, 
leaving two sons, Louis and Rudolph, between 
whom he divided his dominions.* Louis, the 
elder, took the more important and became 
Duke of Bavaria, while his brother received 
the Palatinate, and founded what is called the 
Rudolphine line of the Palatine family. The 
position of the Palatine was in all respects 
regal, save in so far as it was limited by those 
loose bands which bound all the German 
States, together with Austria, in the Holy 
Roman Empire. During the tenure of the 
Rudolphine line, the dignity and power of the 
Palatine were further increased by the impe- 
rial gift of the Electorship. By reason of this 
gift in rank and position, the title of the prince 
was changed, who thereafter was no longer 
Count, but the Elector, Palatine. 

The Rudolphine house became extinct on 
the death of Otho, the twelfth of the line, who 
died without issue in the year 1559. On his 
death the Palatinate passed to Frederick, of 
the house of Simmeren — or Zimmern — who 
became the founder of the so-called Middle 
Line of the Palatines. The accession of Fred- 

* Butler's Revolutions in Germany, 



The Palatinate 27 

erick, in addition to the change of dynasty, 
marked an epoch of importance in the history 
of the Palatinate, in that he associated himself 
and his house with the Reformed, or Calvin- 
istic, branch of the Protestant Church. 

The Zimmern line ended with the death of 
the childless Charles in 1685, and gave place 
to the related House of Neuburg in the per- 
son of Philip William. Philip died in 1690, 
and was succeeded by his son John William, 
whose reign as Elector Palatine lasted until 
1 716. It was in his reign that the Palatines 
of our story began their exodus, and it was 
from his hand that proceeded the last and most 
immediate, though not the greatest, impulse 
to that emigration. 

This impulse, it may be said in passing, was 
religious, for, while this emigration was not 
from under a pitiless and destructive persecu- 
tion for religion's sake, and while it may be 
doubted whether so lar^e an exodus of this 
people would have taken place had their re- 
ligion only have come in question, yet it is be- 
yond denial that among the strong incentives 
which led them forth was the desire for religf- 
ious liberty, free from the vexing and oppress- 



28 The Palatines 

ive Interference of capricious monarchs. The 
religious history of the Palatinate, so far as 
concerns the attitude and measures of the 
government, was indeed capricious. The situ- 
ation of the country brought the people into 
early contact with the Reformation and its 
orreat teachers. Wittenbera was not far to the 
east, and Geneva no farther on the south, and 
the people were open-eared to both Luther 
and Calvin. For some years before the court 
of the Elector Palatine had pronounced its 
adhesion to the Protestant faith the principles 
of the Reformation had taken almost universal 
possession of the people. Both Lutheran and 
Reformed doctrine found a friendly and fertile 
soil in the Palatinate. The numerical strength 
was with the followers of Geneva, to that ex- 
tent that for generations the Palatinate was 
known as a stronghold of the Reformed ; 
while the Lutheran element, found in large 
numbers, was accorded by their neighbors of 
the Reformed faith the charity and tolerance 
of a common Christian brotherhood. So when 
the people began to flock across the sea, 
Lutheran and Reformed came together, bring- 
ing each his own special thought and desire of 



The Palatinate 29 

worship and doctrine. It is interesting to note 
in the history of their settlements in America, 
that almost in every place where they made 
their permanent homes both forms of the 
Protestant faith found early foothold and habi- 
tation. Side by side they erected their humble 
churches, since grown in many places into 
noble temples. And to this day, in the val- 
leys of the Hudson, the Mohawk, the Scho- 
harie, and the Swatara, the children of those 
Palatines, still Lutheran and Reformed, wor- 
ship side by side as their fathers of the sixth 
generation gone worshipped on the Rhine. 

But of this unity in difference the rulers of 
the Palatinate can not be exhibited with their 
people as examples. They lagged behind the 
people in breaking the bond of the Roman 
faith, and it was not until 1546 that Frederick 
II., the then reigning Elector Palatine, gave 
in adhesion to the Protestant cause — especially 
espousing the Lutheran faith. As already 
noted, Frederick III., the first Palatine of the 
House of Zimmern, signalized his accession to 
power by the strenuous advocacy of the Re- 
formed doctine. During his reign, on his 
urgency and authority, Olevian and Ursinus, 



30 The Palatines 

professors of divinity in the University of 
Heidelberg, published that Catechism, which 
under the name of Heidelberg remains to this 
day throughout the various branches of the 
Reformed Church, the dearest among its sym- 
bolical books ; and is also recognized through- 
out the Protestant world as the best and 
choicest of the Creeds to which the Reforma- 
tion era gave rise ; specially notable, at once, 
for its freedom from the controversial spirit of 
the age, and for the high tone of spiritual ex- 
perience which it depicts. 

The successors of Frederick HI. did not all 
adhere to the Reformed doctrine and Church, 
but with a vacillation, not recorded of other 
rulers of their century, exhibited a change in 
the religion of the Palatine and his court on 
nearly every accession to the throne. A Cal- 
vinist in the Electorship was pretty certain to 
be followed by a Lutheran, who in his turn 
gave place at death to another Calvinist, to be 
followed by yet another Lutheran. It was a 
kind of religious seesaw, in which all the power 
of royal favor and influence of court patronage, 
and at times the force of decrees and enact- 
ments, were thrown now at one end of the 



The Palatinate 31 

beam and soon again at the other, to the no 
small confusion of the people, and in many 
instances to their very serious discomfiture and 
loss. For in those days throughout Christen- 
dom obtained the old motto, " Cttjus regio, ejus 
religio " — (whose is the country, his is the reli- 
gion ; — or, the religion of the prince, must be 
that of his people). This as an axiom had 
come down from the time of Augustine, who 
defined the first duty of the State "to buttress 
the invisible City of God " ; and of all the 
great minds of the Reformation period the only 
one to break away from its dictum was the 
Stadtholder of Holland, William the Silent. 
Luther and Calvin, Knox and Cranmer, and 
even the Puritans of New England acknow- 
ledged as vital the principle that the State 
could interfere in the religion of the subject. 
Not only did they assent to the axiom as cor- 
rect, but they incorporated it in their confes- 
sions and institutions. It took not only the 
persecutions of Papal Rome, the Holy Oflfice 
and the sword of Alva ; but also the innumer- 
able petty persecutions of Protestant against 
Protestant, to teach the world the meaning and 
divine right of religious liberty. Nor could 



32 The Palatines 

the Old World furnish a fitting field for its dem- 
onstration. There was needed the free soil of 
the America, to which that band of Palatines 
came, before this greatest of all human rights 
could find expression in national life and law. 
And it may be added, this definition and enact- 
ment of Religious Liberty is as yet the great 
gift of America to the world ; which liberty in 
its purest form — strange as it seems at this end 
of the nineteenth century — among all the great 
nations of Christendom exists alone in America 
to-day. 

It is not then a matter for surprise that the 
people of the Palatinate should suffer many dis- 
tresses under the sway of varying religionists, 
though all were of the Protestant faith. Each 
successor in the throne endeavored to change 
back again, in the interest of either Lutheran- 
ism or Calvinism, what his immediate prede- 
cessor had recast to his own mind. The story 
of the Reformation tells of no other such reli- 
gious kaleidoscope, turning over and over to 
the constant unsettlement of the public com- 
fort. When, in 1690, John William became 
the Elector Palatine, he brought on the great- 
est change of all, seeking not to turn his pec- 



The Palatinate 33 

pie from one to other Protestant communion, 
but to reverse the action of Frederick II., and 
brinof the Palatinate ao-ain under the Roman 
See. He was a man of saturnine disposition, 
devotedly attached to the Roman Church, and 
needing only the power of Philip II. of Spain 
to rival his reputation as bigot and persecutor. 
Under his rule the poor people of the Palati- 
nate suffered in their religious affections and 
privileges far more than the variable Protest- 
antism of his predecessors had inflicted. To 
him Lutheran and Reformed were alike ob- 
noxious, and in all ways possible he signified 
his intention to bring back his dominions to 
their ancient faith. To the people already suf- 
fering from the intolerable hardships which the 
crudest of wars had thrust upon them, this per- 
secuting spirit of their prince came as the last 
impulse to break off their attachment to the 
fatherland and send them to make new homes 
in distant America. 

Of the wars which wrought upon the 
Palatines so piteously and expulsively, it falls 
in place to make brief note. There were two 
of them, covering almost the entire period 
between the years 1684 and 1713, with but 



34 The Palatines 

four years of so-called peace thrust into the 
midst of it. The first is known as the war of 
the Grand Alliance, and the other as that of 
the Spanish Succession. Of the former the 
conquest of the Palatinate was the exciting 
cause, while in the latter, though the integrity 
of the Palatinate was not again at stake, its 
poor people became again the prey of a brutal 
soldiery. Both wars were due to the over- 
weening ambition and rapacity of Louis XI V.^* 
The possession of the Palatinate had long 
been the object of his most covetous desire. 
Like all the princes of France, and almost all 
Frenchmen from the time of Philip Augustus 
to our own day, Louis considered that the 
frontier of France could be properly constructed 
only by the left bank of the Rhine. For this 
object many battles have been fought and 
many thousands of men have died. To the 
mind of France one of the chief Q-lories of 
Napoleon was that he gave to her that 
boundary, and to-day the deep grudge of 
France against the German is that, twenty- 
five years ago he wrested from her the 
Rhenish provinces. So to Louis, the modern 

* MenzeVs History of Germany^ ii., 498. 



The Palatinate 35 

Ahab, through the first half of his long reign, 
the fertile meadows and vine-clad hills of the 
Palatinate, its populous towns and many castles 
with the smiling river in the midst, made a 
Naboth's vineyard which of all things he 
desired to call his own. Thus incited he made 
miserable the lives of the two Electors Pala- 
tine, Charles Louis and Charles, by every 
deceitful art of diplomacy and by many violent 
raids into their dominions. With the hope of 
propitiating him Charles Louis, in 1671, gave 
his daughter Elizabeth Charlotte in marriage 
to Philip of Orleans, the brother of the French 
king. But there, as in almost every other 
instance in history, the bond of kinship proved 
but as a rope of sand against the demands of 
an aggressive policy of state. The insolence 
of Louis hardly received a check. The lights 
had hardly been extinguished upon the nuptial 
banquet, when Turenne led an army into the 
Palatinate to ravage the v/est bank of the 
Rhine. This was in 1674, and in the follow- 
ing years the policy of Louis so repeated his 
harassments and Insults that the proud spirit 
of the Elector Palatine, Charles Louis, at 
last gave way, and he died "of a broken 



36 The Palatines 

heart" in 1680. His son Charles, subjected 
to like treatment by Louis, had but a short 
reign, dying childless in 1685. 

With the death of Charles what Louis 
counted his great opportunity had come. The 
bonds of family alliance, which were too weak 
for restraint from insolence and oppression, 
seemed quite strong enough for the transfer- 
ence of a principality. He denied the right 
of Philip William of Neuburg to the succes- 
sion, and demanded the Palatinate for his 
brother Philip, in right of his wife, the sister 
of the dead Palatine. The demand roused 
all the German princes in opposition. The 
League of Augsburg was formed against Louis, 
embracing Bavaria and all the German States, 
and under its protection Philip William as- 
sumed the Electorate Palatine. 

Meanwhile, two other great events provided 
strength and bitterness for the coming conflict. 
In the autumn of 1685 Louis, incited thereto 
by the persuasions of Madame de Maintenon, 
revoked the Edict of Nantes, by which Henry 
IV. had given safety to the Huguenots and 
eighty years of prosperity to France. At once 
began the flight of the Refugees — "best blood 



The Palatinate 37 

of France " — to seek safety and new homes in 
other lands. Many of them found a warm 
welcome with the Palatine and his people, 
against whom, for this act of harborage, the 
wrath of Louis " smoked like a furnace." 
Holland and England had also opened their 
doors to the fugitives, but the Palatinate 
especially, for the double reason that it was 
more accessible and was itself the object of 
his long desire, became the victim of his 
anger. 

In addition to this element of the quarrel 
another was given by the deposition of James 
II. from the throne of England in 1688, and 
the accession of William of Orange. James 
was received with royal honors at Versailles, 
established in state at St. Germain, and made 
a pensioner on the bounty of Louis, who both 
refused to acknowledge William and aided 
James in his futile efforts to recover his lost 
crown. This precipitated the angry action 
of the English king and parliament. England 
with Holland joined the League against France, 
and its name was changed to the Grand Al- 
liance. 

The war raged for nine years, and in the 



38 The Palatines 

Palatinate with unparalleled ferocity. Louis, 
anticipating the action of the allies, sent 50,- 
000 men into the Palatinate under General 
Montclas. History accredits to Madame de 
Maintenon an insatiable rage against the Pala- 
tine and his people for the asylum afforded to 
the Huguenots, and to her intrigues and per- 
suasions that Louvois urged upon the king, 
that " the Palatinate should be made a desert." 
Macaulay dissents from this condemnation of 
Louis's wife and represents that she expos- 
tulated with the king against this policy of 
rapine, and that, having in vain interceded for 
many cities, she at last secured the saving of 
Treves. Possibly this view may be correct. 
The responsibility of de Maintenon for the 
banishment of the Huguenots is, however, 
beyond question, but one can take pleasure in 
thinking of this as the effect of pure religious 
bigotry unmixed with any love of cruelty. 
Nor, indeed, is it necessary to consider Louis 
as overpersuaded to that atrocity by his wife, 
or any one. The experience of vast and irre- 
sponsible power had long since made him a 
stranger to either pity or remorse. Neither his 
judgment nor his will approved the Revocation 



The Palatinate 39 

of the Edict of Nantes. He was too wise in 
king-craft not to perceive the great material 
damage to the kingdom involved therein. To 
this he was overpersuaded by his wife and her 
priests. But having yielded to their solicita- 
tions and committed himself to their policy of 
extermination, he needed no other incentive 
than his own vindictiveness. Partly in revenge 
for the Protestant welcome given to his ban- 
ished subjects, partly in anger at not securing 
the Palatinate for himself, and partly to render 
the country unfit for occupancy by the allies, he 
gave such orders as must have fully satisfied 
the utmost passion. Montclas and his lieu- 
tenant, Melac, were neither unwilling nor slow 
to execute the orders of Louis with as literal 
and complete a fulfilment as possible. Melac 
boasted that " he would fight for his king 
against all the powers of heaven * and of hell." 
Says Macaulay f : 

" The French commander announced to nearly one 
half-miUion of human beings that he granted them three 
days of grace, and that within that time they must shift 
for themselves. Soon the roads and fields which then 
lay deep in snow were blackened by innumerable men, 

* Menzel, ii., 499. f History of England, iii., 123. 



'K 



40 The Palatines 

women, and children flying from their homes. Many 
died of cold and hunger, but enough survived to fill the 
streets of all the cities of Europe with lean and squalid 
beggars, who had once been thriving farmers and shop- 
keepers." 

Every great city on the Rhine, above Cologne, 
was taken and sacked. Worms, Spires, Ander- 
nach, Kuckheim, Kreuznach, were laid in ashes. 
The fortress of Philippsberg was completely 
destroyed. Villages without number were 
given to the flames. The Elector Philip, look- 
ing from the walls of Mannheim counted, in 
one day, no less than twenty-three towns and 
villages in flames. Heidelberg suffered to some 
extent, but its castle escaped for a few years 
only the violence which in 1692 made it the 
most picturesque ruin in Europe. Many of 
the unoffending inhabitants were butchered. 
Many were carried into France and compelled 
to recant. In Spires the brutal soldiery, as 
though to express their contempt for things 
most sacred, broke open the imperial vaults 
and scattered the ashes of the emperors. The 
whole valley of the Rhine, on both its banks, 
from Drachenfels to Philippsberg, was made 
the prey of the demon of rapine and destruc- 



The Palatinate 41 

tion. The crumbhng walls, the deserted cas- 
tles fallen into ruin, the isolated towers, ivy 
covered, which to-day interest the traveller on 
the Rhine, giving associations of historic 
beauty to almost every hill washed by its wa- 
ters, are the marks, as yet indelible, of the 
wrath of Louis and the rapacity of his army. 
These ruins still remain, softened and beau- 
tified by time, but they tell a tale of fearful 
atrocity. And, in reality, far worse than aught 
they witness to, was the unspeakable barbarity 
suffered by the people. In the midst of the 
destruction of the towns and villages, such of 
the poor villagers as endeavored to rescue their 
goods were slain. " Everywhere in the fields 
were found the corpses of wretched people 
frozen to death. The citizens of Mannheim, 
were compelled to assist in destroying their 
fortifications, and then driven out, hungry and 
naked, into the winter cold, while their city 
was burned. In the neighborhood of Treves, 
Cologne and Julich the peasants were forced 
in the following summer to plow down their 
own standing crops." '^' The French, hav- 
ing thus wrought in the Palatinate and the 

* Lewis's History of Germany, p. 462. 



42 The Palatines 

small States in the north, passed on through 
Wurtemberg and Bavaria, on all roads with 
fire and sword. At the end of the campaign, 
" a list of twelve hundred cities and villages, 
that still remained to be burned, was exhibited 
by these brigands,""^ 

In 1689 Louis attempted through Jacobite 
intrigues the assassination of William III., and 
this outrage, added to the ferocities of the pre- 
vious year's campaign in the Palatinate and 
Bavaria, at last aroused the hitherto indifferent 
Emperor Leopold, who now made common 
cause with the petty princes of Germany, who 
w'jre in danger of being trodden under foot by 
the despotic monarch of France.f He pro- 
cured the ''decree of the Diet of Ratisbon 
(1689) which expelled every French agent 
from Germany and prohibited the employment 
of French servants and any intercourse with 
France ; the Emperor adding these words, 
'because France is to be regarded not only as 
the empire's most inveterate foe, but as that 
of the whole of Christendom, nay, as even 
worse than the Turk.'" This added new 

* Menzel's History of Germany, ii., 500. 
f Menzel, ii., 501. 



The Palatinate 43 

fury to the war and new suffering to the poor 
people. In 1692 the French agahi turned 
attention to the Palatinate, as though to pick up 
what they had left behind four years before, 
and seizing Heidelberg, blew up its famous 
castle, leaving it the ruin that it is to-day. 
Thence through the valley of the Neckar and 
the higher Rhine, they resumed the destruc- 
tive measures of the past. 

The war with varying fortunes drew out its 
fearful length to 1697, with the balance of gain 
and by far the most brilliant victories on the 
side of Louis. But it was impossible of con- 
tinuance. The finances of Louis were nearly 
exhausted, and a new ambition was luring him 
in view of the near death of the childless King 
of Spain. Meanwhile, the mutual distrust of the 
Allies was weakening their strength, and both 
parties to the contest hastened to conclude the 
Peace of Ryswick in 1697. This Peace makes a 
bitter satire on the utter folly of the war. By its 
terms Louis restored all his conquests to their 
legitimate possessors and recognized William 
of Orange as King of England. '' Thus ter- 
minated," says Labberton '^' "this vast war, in 

* Labber ton's Historical Atlas, p. 135. 



44 The Palatines 

which the two parties had displayed on land 
and sea forces incomparably greater than Eu- 
rope had ever seen before in motion. France, 
in order to maintain herself against this coali- 
tion, had nearly doubled her military status 
since the war with Holland. The result had 
been a barren honor. Alone against all Eu- 
rope she had contrived to conquer, but without 
increasing her power. For the first time, on the 
contrary, since the accession of Richelieu, she 
had lost ground." In the midst of the war the 
Elector Palatine, Philip William died, in 1690. 
His son and successor, John William, as already 
noted, was a devoted adherent of the Church of 
Rome, and at once, while his people were still 
smarting under the terrible sufferings of the 
war, set himself to compel their conversion to 
his own faith. Bishop Burnet describes him ^' as 
"being bigoted to a high degree." He gives also 
an interesting sketch of Herr Zeiher, the rep- 
resentative of the Elector Palatine at the Con- 
gress of Ryswick, as f "born a Protestant, a 
subject of the Palatinate, he was employed by 
the Elector Charles Louis to negotiate affairs 

* Burnet s History of His Own Times, iii., 223. 
^ Ibid.^ iv., 63. 



The Palatinate 45 

at the court of Vienna. He, seeing a pros- 
pect of rising at that court, changed his rehg- 
ion and became a creature of the Jesuits. He 
managed the secret practice with the French 
in the treaty of Ryswick by which the Protes- 
tants of the Palatinate suffered so considerable 
a prejudice." "The Elector Palatine," says 
Menzel,* " instantly enforced the maxim, 
Cujus regio ejus religio, throughout his domin- 
ions, and simulated Louis XIV. in tyranny 
towards the Protestants, who emigrated in 
large numbers." 

The peace instituted by the treaty of Rys- 
wick had but short life. Scarcely had the sol- 
dier put off his harness when he was summoned 
to put it on again. Another and greater war 
followed quickly on that of the Grand Alliance, 
once more making all Europe a camp and once 
more bringing desolation upon the people of 
the Palatinate. This was the war of the Span- 
ish Succession, the origin and objects of which 
may be stated in few words. 

Charles \\. of Spain, the last of the Haps- 
burg dynasty, died without issue in 1 700. The 
decision as to the succession had for years be- 

* History of Germany, ii., 503. 



46 The Palatines 

fore his death furnished large occupation to the 
cabinets of Europe. There were three claim- 
ants : the Dauphin, the Emperor Leopold, and 
the Electoral Prince of Bavaria, a grandson to 
the Emperor and as yet a child. Among these 
claimants the Spanish people indicated no pref- 
erence, only insisting that the empire should 
remain undivided. It is not necessary for us 
to detail the grounds on which the conflicting 
claims were based. Suffice it to say, that 
Charles, in his will, declared the young Bava- 
rian Prince the heir to all his dominions, hop- 
ing by such devise to forestall and prevent the 
impending conflict. Had the young Prince 
lived, it is possible that he might have as- 
cended the Spanish throne without serious 
opposition, and the fearful war have been 
averted. But his sudden death in 1699, while 
Charles still hovered over the grave, opened 
the question afresh and made the war inevi- 
table. The agents of Louis at once beset 
Charles, to extort from his weak mind an indi- 
cation of favor towards the French claim. To 
these efforts was added the powerful influence 
of the Papal Embassy. Thus they succeeded 
in obtaining from the moribund monarch an- 



The Palatinate 47 

other will, by which he set aside the renuncia- 
tions of the two Infantas, mother and wife of 
Louis, and devised the crown of the entire 
Spanish Empire to Philip of Anjou, the grand- 
son of Louis. At once, on the death of Charles, 
Philip assumed the crown, under the title of 
Philip v., and all Europe sprang to arms. 
Austria, Prussia, Bavaria, and the smaller 
German States formed a coalition against 
France ; and again, as in the preceding war, 
Louis added to the number of his enemies by 
insolence to England. The disposition of 
William and his parliament was to keep out 
of the contest ; only stipulating that, though 
the reigning houses of both France and Spain 
might be Bourbon, the two crowns must never 
be united upon the one head. But this pas- 
sive attitude of England was suddenly changed 
into fury by an uncalled-for insult from Louis. 
While the opposing forces of the Continent 
were as yet only preparing for the conflict, the 
exiled James died at St. Germain, September, 
1 701 ; and Louis acknowledged his son as King 
of England. It is difficult to account for such 
action, save on the ground of sheer malicious- 
ness, for Louis was too astute a statesman to 



48 The Palatines 

suppose that the son of James could ever as- 
cend the English throne. It was as though, 
having had William for a foe in almost all his 
wars of the past, he could not regard the new 
lists properly drav/n without his old enemy in 
his front again. If this were his motive, he 
succeeded to perfection. Not only William, 
but all England was thoroughly roused, and 
decided to take part with the coalition. Wil- 
liam, beyond all comparison the master states- 
man of Europe, was all powerful in Holland. 
That sturdy nation, always fighting on Wil- 
liam's side, whether Stadtholder or King, went 
with England into the alliance, and again pre- 
sented the spectacle of France fighting single- 
handed against all the great Powers. The war 
lasted twelve years, being terminated in 1713 
by the Peace of Utrecht. In this war the 
great victories were on the side of the allies. 
Blenheim, Ramillies, and Oudenarde set the 
names of Marlborough and Eugene among 
the greatest of the world's generals. It is a 
curious contrast presented by this war and the 
preceding with regard to their results. In the 
former all the great victories were won by 
the armies of Louis, but he kept nothing of 



The Palatinate 49 

all gained thereby. In the latter Louis was 
defeated in every great battle, and yet he won 
what he fought for, — the crown of Spain for 
his grandson. By the treaty of Utrecht Philip 
was confirmed in its possession, though the 
empire was dismembered. The only other 
power to gain anything of permanent value in 
the war was England. She, in 1704, obtained 
possession of Gibraltar, as yet, nearly two hun- 
dred years after, un wrested from her grasp. 
The heaviest fighting of the war was in Bava- 
ria, Northern Italy, and the Netherlands ; but 
the Palatinate came in for its full share of 
accustomed desolations. It would seem that 
Louis could never forgive his failure to steal 
the principality for himself. His armies, seek- 
ing their foes in the north and east, made 
broad swathes of destruction across the Pala- 
tinate, notwithstanding the favor of the Pala- 
tine for the French and his religious sympathy 
with Louis. In every year one or other por- 
tion of the little State was made to suffer from 
the brutality of the French ; and in 1 707 the 
Marshal Villars led into it an army with the 
intent to repeat the work of desolation wrought 
by Montclas in 1688, having the same, though 



50 The Palatines 

not so universal, result in burning towns and 
impoverished people. And then began that 
exodus which brought so many thousands of 
the poor people to America. 

At the first glance it may seem needless to 
relate, even after so brief fashion, the forego- 
ing story of the two wars, which made for the 
subjects of the Palatine such a furnace of 
affliction. But it is well to see all things in 
their historical perspective. The cause of the 
lowliest, the sufferings of the humblest, gain in 
dignity — and that worthily — from association 
which groups them with the great events of 
history. This thought alone were sufficient 
for setting the emigration of the Palatines in 
its proper place as related to the councils of 
princes and the movement of great wars. 
This would be sufficient in telling any tale of 
historical interest. 

But, as hinted in the Introduction, there is 
special reason for dwelling upon the influences 
of war and religious oppression as furnishing 
the moving causes of this migration. For 
some reason not explained the usual under- 
standing has been quite different. In England, 
in the year after the migration of 1710, when 



The Palatinate 51 

the tide of sympathy and charity had ebbed 
which sent the Palatines on their hopeful way 
to America, and when the Tories had dis- 
placed the Whigs from power, a committee of 
the House of Commons appointed to investi- 
gate the causes of the Palatine emigration,* 
reported that it was entirely due to land 
speculators, who had obtained patents in the 
colonies and had sent agents into Germany to 
induce the peasantry to emigrate to America 
upon the said lands. Stress is laid upon the 
fact that the Palatines themselves had acknow- 
ledged the receipt of papers and books con- 
taining the portrait of Queen Anne, urging 
their emigration and promising gifts of land. 
No mention is made In that report of any other 
influence leading to the emigration, and the 
inference is made that these poor Palatines 
were deluded " objects of speculation," whom 
the arts of the land agents had, for their own 
purposes, foisted on the British public, to the 
great disturbance of home and colonial affairs. 
This report, evidently biased by political feel- 
ing and by disgust at the continuance of 
appeals for aid to the emigrants, cites the 

* Burnet's Own Times, iv., 258. 



52 The Palatines 

Naturalization Act of 1 708 as among the chief 
of the evil instruments that had precipitated 
on English shores this great stream of people 
from the Palatinate. 

Some modern writers, who have alluded to 
the subject, seem to have been content to take 
this report as completely disposing of the 
question, and quenching the title of these 
Palatines to historic sympathy. It is remark- 
able that so scholarly a man as Dr. Homes, 
formerly Librarian of the State of New York, 
should have accepted the conclusions of this 
report as justified by the facts in the case.* 
He intimates that not much credit should be 
given to the Palatine claim that this people 
became exiles because of oppression. 

One can hardly fail, on full study of the 
question, to be surprised at such conclusion ; 
for while it may be true that agents did 
solicit the migration, this fact is entirely con- 
sistent with the other fact that, because of 
sufferings endured through war and religious 
persecution, this people became promising ob- 
jects of such solicitation. That is to say — the 
agents of land companies, if such there were, 

* Trans. Albany Institute, vii., 106-132. 



The Palatinate 53 

supposedly shrewd and businesslike, saw in 
the down-trodden and oppressed people of the 
Palatinate a field of operation, because of their 
very afiflictions. While with an eye only to 
business they addressed their propositions to 
the poor Palatines, the solicitations must have 
seemed to open " in the valley of Achor a 
door of hope." 

It is notable also that, not only in 1708 and 
1709 were all these emigrants departing from 
the Palatinate, and equally oppressed Swabia 
on its southern border, but also for forty years 
after, the vast majority of German immigrants 
to America were from the same quarter. The 
question is evident: Why should the land agents 
have confined their efforts to the Palatinate, 
and the Palatines alone have been desirous of 
emigration, unless there had been in their con- 
dition, and in the disposition of the govern- 
ment under which they lived, causes of such 
grave moment as predisposed them to leave 
their country ? The singularity of choice by 
the agents of the Palatinate alone, and the 
ready disposition of the people to listen to 
their offers, as well as the remarkable fact that 
they alone of the Germans of their day had a 



54 The Palatines 

desire to change their country, certainly de- 
mand a broader and more significant explana- 
tion than a speculative fever. But given the 
condition of destitution resulting from the 
French invasion and the harassing measures 
of a Prince filled with proselyting zeal, we see 
at once the combination that disposed the 
people to at once accept the opportunity of 
escape. 

It is significant also that, while the Palatines 
in London frankly stated the fact that they 
had been urged by the agents to their migra- 
tion, yet in all their formal statements, peti- 
tions, and addresses to the authorities in 
England and America they cite the cruelties 
suffered from the French as the great cause 
of all. Some of their statements also af^rm the 
religious oppression in their own country as 
another powerful influence toward emigration. 

It is to be noted that Burnet, while record- 
ing the action of the House of Commons and 
the report of its committee, does not indicate 
his own judgment as in accord with its conclu- 
sions. On the contrary, in the two passages 
already cited,* he appears to state his own 

* Burnet's OiCm Times, iii., 223. iv. , 63. 



The Palatinate 55 

opinion that the Protestant people of the Pala- 
tinate were subjected to no small prejudice 
and distress by the oppressive measures of 
John William. 

Further, Dr. Homes, in the article above 
noted, objects that the claim of the Palatines 
that the cruelties of the French had driven 
them from their country, is not to be credited, 
because the ruthless campaign by which Louis 
desolated the Palatinate was in 1688, twenty 
years before the exodus began. Were this 
the only campaign in which the French soldiers 
had ridden rough-shod over the fields and 
villages of the Palatinate,, the objection cer- 
tainly would hold good. Twenty years surely 
were many enough to smooth out the rough- 
nesses so caused and to reclaim the ravaged 
land. But, while that campaign was undoubt- 
edly the severest under which that devoted 
land suffered, yet others followed. Again and 
again, through the years of the war of the 
Grand Alliance, the armies of Louis swept 
through the country, and, although not staying 
to wreak deliberate and wide-spread ruin, yet 
left want and suffering on their trail. A like 
ill fortune fell upon the principality with the 



56 The Palatines 

opening of the War of the Succession, cul- 
minating in the deliberate invasion of Villars in 
1707 to emulate the rapine of Montclas and 
Melac. It is strange that Dr. Homes should 
have overlooked these facts. They import an 
amount of suffering entailed upon the poor 
people of the Palatinate not easy of estima- 
tion, and certainly both great and immediate 
enough to justify their statement, that they 
left their country in consequence of the cruel- 
ties of the French. And it is very significant 
that the first outward movement was imme- 
diately subsequent on the invasion of Villars 
in 1707. That was the last burden which, 
added to all the loss and suffering of the past, 
set on foot the emigrating thousands ; first to 
Holland, then to England, and finally across 
the sea. 

Still another item of disproof of the judg- 
ment that this emigration was solely due to 
the agents of the American Proprietaries is 
found in the fact, that they had made no pro- 
vision for the care and direction of the emi- 
grants, either in transit or after reaching 
America. The only apparent exception to 
this statement is the existence of a committee 



The Palatinate 57 

of assistance at Rotterdam, through whose 
offices the Palatines were helped en route, and 
so speedily as possible shipped to England. 
But there is no evidence that this committee 
was instituted by agents of the Proprietaries, 
and it may have had its origin from the au- 
thorities of Holland, in the same manner as it 
became a necessity for the English authorities 
to provide in some way for this great body of 
straneers. This seems the most reasonable 
supposition, for had there been anything like 
a concerted movement of the Proprietaries or 
Patentees in America to promote emigration to 
their lands, it seems impossible that they could 
have failed to provide some measures by 
which the scheme could be effected. Of this, 
however, there was absolutely nothing. The 
agents, if any such there were, disappear at 
once that the migration, supposed to have 
been excited by them, is begun. The thou- 
sands flocking from the Palatinate are thrown 
naked upon England, to be cared for and di- 
rected at the expense of the government and 
of public charity. It was impossible for agents 
to lay their calculation for such an issue as is 
found in the unparalleled benevolence of the 



58 



The Palatines 



British people towards these poor Palatines. 
We will have to conclude, that, while sundry- 
so-called agents may have found access to the 
Palatinate, they really represented no business 
enterprise and undertook none such ; and that 
the people, learning of the avenue of escape 
from their accumulated wrongs, needed for 
their emigration no other inducement. 



I 





CHAPTER III. 



THE EXODUS. 

THE first formal note of the emigration, 
as already begun, is found in a report 
of the British Lords of Trade.* No 
record exists of the starting of the people from 
their homes upon the Rhine, as of the inception 
of a great enterprise. Indeed, this were im- 
possible. With whatever of undertone of con- 
cert of action the movement was set on foot, 
its beginnings in the Palatinate had to be in 
quietness and stealth. The Elector Palatine 
was of a mind to lose none of his subjects, and 
made vigorous protests against their emigra- 
tion. Among other deterrents he published 
an edict threatening death to all who should 
attempt to emigrate from his dominions. So, 
of necessity, the departure of the emigrants, 

* Dec. Hist, of N. F., iii., 327. 
59 



6o The Palatines 

if not "by night," was unheralded. In fact 
for years there had been a steady though small 
stream of the afiflicted people seeking quieter 
countries. Northern Germany and Holland 
had received thousands of them. And now 
that the thoug-hts of the refucjees were turned 
westward, they found countrymen in the cities 
of Holland to help them on their journey. 

It is probable that we should cite, as the first 
contingent from the Palatinate to America, a 
small band which, after much toil and disaster, 
found settlement in New Jersey. There is but 
small record of this company, and how much of 
their story is due to local tradition can hardly 
be decided. * The tale is of a company of Luth- 
erans who, in 1705, fled from persecution at 
Wolfenbuttel and Halberstadt. They went 
into Holland, and thence, in 1707, embarked 
for New York. By stress of storm their ves- 
sel was driven to the south, and after tedious 
delays found harbor at Philadelphia. Being 
still determined to go to New York, the little 
company set out to reach that city overland, 
and had nearly accomplished their journey 

* Penna. Mag. of Hist., x., 376, Story of an Old Farm, by Mel- 
lick. Introd. 



\ 



The Exodus 6i 

when, attracted by the beauty and fertiHty of 
the region they were traversing, they resolved 
to go no farther. They had reached the edge 
of the Schooley's Mountain range, and look- 
ing off upon the land, now in the borders of 
Morris County, they decided that no more de- 
sirable place of habitation could be found. So 
there they settled. Happily for them, neither 
the crown nor the provincial government 
seems to have been concerned about them. 
They were left unmolested to build their homes 
and beget a posterity still visible in many well- 
known families of that region. 

The more formal pioneers of the emigrating 
movement were a company of forty-one who 
came to London in the spring of 1 708, and 
applied to the Board of Trade to be sent to 
America. The Report, alluded to above, has 
reference to this application, and bears date of 
April 28, 1708. It takes the form of a Me- 
morial to the Queen, in which the Lords 
comment on a Petition from the Rev. Joshua 
Kockerthal, an Evangelical minister, on behalf 
of himself and other 

" poor Lutherans, come hither from the Lower Palatin- 
ate, praying to be transferred to some of your Majesty's 



62 The Palatines 

plantations in America ; in number 41, viz : 10 men, 10 
women, and 21 children ; in the utmost want, being re- 
duced to this miserable condition by the ravages com- 
mitted by the French when they lost all they had." 

The Board notes the testimonials of good 
character brought by the company, and on the 
question of their location sets aside the West 
Indies, on account of the hot climate, and pro- 
poses " to settle them on Hudson's River, 
where they can be made useful in the produc- 
tion of Naval Stores and as a Frontier against 
the French and Indians." It is further recom- 
mended that " they be transported in the Man- 
of-War and Transport ship to go with Lord 
Lovelace," who had been recently appointed 
to the governorship of New York ; that they 
" should be supplied here [London] with nec- 
essary tools for agriculture, and must be sup- 
ported for awhile by the Queen's bounty, or 
by the Province, and before departure should 
be made Denizens of this Kincrdom." It is 
further intimated that, if the Queen would 
confirm the provincial act annulling certain 
extravagant patents granted by Governor 
Fletcher, she would be able to grant the usual 
number of acres to these poor Palatines. The 



The Exodus 63 

suggestions of the Lords of Trade were ap- 
proved by the Queen in Council, and order 
was taken on 10 May, 1708, for the naturaH- 
zation of the Palatines and sending them to 
New York with Lord Lovelace. 

Meanwhile, before this company was em- 
barked, another petition from Kockerthal rep- 
resents that fourteen others had joined him 
and his company,''^ three of whom were from 
Holstein. He describes this company as " in 
a Deplorable Condition, having suffered under 
the Calamity which hap'ned last year in the 
Palatinate by the invasion of the French," and 
prays that they may receive from the Queen 
the same kind treatment given to the first 
company, and be with them sent to America. 
This petition, which bears date of June, 1708, 
was granted by the Queen, and the fourteen 
Palatines were made denizens of the kino;dom. 

In this petition Kockerthal also asks, in view 
of his clerical profession, that he be given a 
" Sallary, inasmuch as he cannot hope for a 
competent subsistence in America." To this 
no attention is paid by the authorities, and, on 
the 7th July, Kockerthal addresses another 

* Colonial Hist, of N. F., v., 44. 



64 The Palatines 

petition,* again asking for a salary and for^20 
towards an outfit. To this the Lords of Trade 
advise the Queen, that no precedent exists 
for granting stipends to foreign clergymen in 
the colonies — only that the French minister in 
New York receives annually ;^20 or^f 30, " but 
by what order we do not find." The Board, 
however, in consideration that Kockerthal is 
poor, suggests that the sum desired for outfit be 
granted to him, and as his people are poor, he 
be given a glebe of 500 acres, with liberty 
to sell some of it for his immediate mainte- 
nance after reaching America. 

These two companies were undoubtedly one 
in the scheme of emigration ; for some cause 
becoming separated on the way to England, 
whence, being reunited, they went together 
across the sea. It is interesting to note that 
in the company were thirteen families and two 
unmarried men. All the names, even of the 
children — some of which names are still wor- 
thily represented by their descendants f — are on 
record. All were Lutherans in religion ; and 
as to occupations, the majority of the men 

* Col. Hist., v., 62. Doc. Hist, iii., 328. 
f See Note I, 



The Exodus 65 

were farmers, one was a clergyman (Kocker- 
thal), one a weaver, one a stocking-maker, one 
a blacksmith, one a carpenter, and one a clerk. 
The composition of the little emigration has 
the aspect of an enterprise well planned for the 
settling of a new community in strange scenes. 
It would seem also that some concert must 
have existed between this company and their 
countrymen left behind. They went out as a 
band of pioneers, or prospectors, to see what 
might be the promise of other lords and a new 
land ; and it is altogether probable that their 
report sent home of the kind treatment re- 
ceived by them from the English authorities, 
will go far to account for the large influx of 
the Palatines to England in the following year. 
ThiT* probability becomes almost a certainty 
from the fact — of which only an incidental note 
is found in the epitaph on Kockerthal's tomb- 
stone — that, having settled this first company 
in America, he returned at once to England, 
and came out again with the large emigration 
of 1 710, which accompanied Gov. Hunter. Of 
this larger emigration it will fall to speak pres- 
ently ; but for the moment it will be more 

convenient to trace the fortunes of this first 
5 



66 The Palatines 

company, which were quite distinct from those 
of their following countrymen. 

Kockerthal and his companions sailed with 
Lord Lovelace in the autumn of 1708, arrived 
in New York in the following winter, and so 
soon as possible were settled in the district 
then known as Quassaick Creek and Thanks- 
kamir,* This district is part of the territory 
of the present city of Newburgh, the name of 
which may be a monument of this settlement 
by the Palatines, whose prince was of the House 
of Neuburg. The region round about on the 
west side of the Hudson had been purchased 
from the Indians by Gov. Dongan in 1684. 
In 1694 it had been conveyed by patent to 
Capt. John Evans by Gov. Fletcher, but four 
years later this patent, together with others in 
the province, was annulled by the legislative 
Council of New York. The lands were after- 
wards parcelled out in smaller grants, the first 
of which, after much delay, was given in 1719 
to the Palatines, under the name of the Ger- 
man Patent. This patent covered 2190 acres, 
which lay along the Quassaick, or Ouassey, 
now called Chambers Creek, touching the 

* Ruttenber's Hist^ of Oran^^e Co,^ p. 245. 



The Exodus 67 

Hudson and stretching up the side of the 
steep hills. 

Shortly after their arrival, Lord Lovelace, 
who had been especially charged with their 
care and oversight, died in New York, and the 
Palatines very soon began to suffer want. In 
the fall of 1 709 they represent, by petition to 
Lt. Gov. Ingoldsby, that the promised suste- 
nance had not been given to them,* and appeal 
to the compassion of the Governor and Coun- 
cil. When this petition came before the 
Council, it was there stated that nineteen of 
the Palatines had abandoned their Lutheran 
faith and had become Pietists ; and the Coun- 
cil ordered that only the rest should be sup- 
ported. An inquiring committee, however, soon 
reported that no such religious troubles existed 
and that the entire community were entitled 
to the promised subsistence. Order was there- 
upon taken to " victuall " all, and to distribute 
" clothes, tools, and other necessities — such as 
building materials, iron and steel, books, paper 
and medicines, horses, cows and pigs." The 
trouble for the provincial authorities in the 
matter was, that they had entered into no 

* Doc, Hist., iii., 329. 



68 The Palatines 

obligations to subsist these people, who were 
stipendiaries of the home government and 
the Crown. Nor was the Council willing to 
saddle their support upon the treasury of the 
province. At the same time they were unwill- 
ing that the poor people should perish almost 
before their very eyes. They intimated their 
willingness to afford subsistence, if any '* Gen- 
tlemen can be found " to guarantee repayment 
by the government. The Palatines — to whom 
arrears are still in default — report to the Coun- 
cil, in October, 1 709, that they have found such 
security in the persons of Col. Nicholas Bayard 
and Octavius Conradus, and pray for the 
much needed relief. The lano-uaofe of their 
petition, which is signed by John Conrad 
Codweis, is quaint and naive enough to deserve 
an extract. It presents " most humble prayers 
to your Honours' Generosity, to let descend 
Your tender Commiseration towards the pre- 
carious and miserable circumstances of this 
poor people, wherein they certainly shall perish 
this Winter, if not speedily supplied, and thus 
render all past outlay of the Government 
useless." This touching plea wins the com- 
passionate action of the Council, which orders 



The Exodus 69 

the desired aid, only stipulating that the 
Palatines themselves shall repay the advance, 
" if England refuses, in a year ! " Within the 
year Gov. Hunter arrived in New York, with 
the first and only advance of the British gov- 
ernment for the subsistence of the Palatines 
in this country, and it may be taken for granted 
that the Council, who allowed to escape few 
opportunities for harassing that long-suffering 
" Brigadeer," lost no time in presenting their 
bill. 

In the year 1713 the Governor directed the 
Surveyor-General * to lay out for the Palatines 
the land which, six years after, was constituted 
the German Patent, specifying that tracts 
should be allotted " for each of them his quan- 
tity distinctly." Forty acres were to be re- 
served for highways and five hundred for a 
Glebe, and the whole was to be known and 
called " The Palatine Parish by Quassaick." 

At this time Kockerthal, who had returned 
from England with Hunter and the immigra- 
tion of 1 710, was already established at Quas- 
saick. He probably brought with him to 
Quassaick a small number of that large com- 

* Ruttenber, p. 248. 



70 The Palatines 

pany, though the great majority were settled 
at the two Camps, fifty miles farther up the 
river. Over the people in all the Hudson 
settlements Kockerthal exercised very consid- 
erable authority, partly on account of his min- 
isterial office, but more largely because of the 
native strength of his character. He was evi- 
dently a shrewd man, far-seeing and careful, 
able on a wider field, if such had been given 
to him, to be a noted leader of men. His in- 
fluence with his countrymen in America was 
supreme. They looked up to him with no 
little reverence, and the provincial authorities 
had often to appeal to his influence in the en- 
tanglements, which almost immediately began 
in the settlements of East and West Camp. 
Probably having his longer residence at Quas- 
saick, he took the pastoral care, not only of 
the people in that place, but also of those in 
the settlements above. Himself a Lutheran, 
he seems to have maintained the most harmo- 
nious relations with that portion of the people 
who were of the Reformed faith, among whom 
labored a certain John Fred. Hager, one of 
the emigration, who afterwards carried his 
missionary efforts into the Mohawk and Scho- 



The Exodus 71 

harie valleys, and to Pennsylvania. Kocker- 
thal organized a Lutheran church at the Camp 
on the west bank of the Hudson, and proba- 
bly had some part in the similar organization 
on the opposite side of the river. Both 
churches are still existent and among the dozen 
oldest ecclesiastical organizations on the con- 
tinent. Kockerthal died in 1719 at West 
Camp and was there buried. His grave, un- 
til recently, was marked by a stone, bearing 
a quaint inscription in German, of which the 
following is an English translation : * 

" Know, wanderer, under this stone rests, beside his 
Sybilla Charlotte, a right wanderer, the Joshua of the 
High Dutch in North America, the pure Lutheran 
preacher of them on the East and West sides of the 
Hudson River. His first arrival was with Lord Love- 
lace in 1707-8, the ist January. His second with Col. 
Hunter, 17 lo, the 14 June. His voyage back to Eng- 
land was prevented [lit., interrupted] by the voyage of 
his soul to Heaven on St. John's Day, 17 19. 

" Do you wish to know more ? Seek in Melancthon's 
fatherland, who was Kockerthal, who Herschias, who 
Winchenbach ? 

" B. Berkenmayer, S. Huestin, L. Brevoort, 1742." 

The names Herschias and Winchenbach 

* Mag. of Ajn. History, 1871, p. 15, article by Rev. J. B. Thomp- 
son, D.D, 



72 The Palatines 

are said by local tradition to be those of Kock- 
erthal's sons-in-law. The last three names are 
probably, as Dr. Thompson suggests, those of 
the men who, twenty-three years after the death 
of Kockerthal, erected the stone. Within the 
year just past this stone was removed from the 
grave and placed as a mural tablet in the in- 
terior of the church of West Camp. 

After the death of Kockerthal the story of 
the Ouassaick Parish presents but few notes of 
interest, and the most of these have regard to 
the affairs of the church. From that time the 
parish had no pastor of its own, but was min- 
istered to on semi-annual, or annual visits by 
the Lutheran clergyman of New York, who 
for some years was to receive the profits of the 
Glebe. The members at Ouassaick were re- 
ceived into the New York church, to which 
church they loaned the bell given to them by 
Queen Anne, to be returned whenever the 
people at Quassaick should be able to erect a 
house of worship. That house was afterwards 
built, in 1733, and was still standing until 
within the memory of some of the oldest citi- 
zens, and known by them as " the Glebe School 
House." It is pleasant to know that the bell 



The Exodus 73 

was returned, and also to note the hint sug- 
gested of the long-headedness of Kockerthal, 
who, before leading his first colony over the 
sea, sought and obtained from the royal favor 
this bell, which was to wait more than twenty 
years for its destined place. 

What may have been the after fortune of the 
bell is not recorded, but for the most of the 
Palatines at Quassaick it soon ceased to utter 
its Sabbath summons. The majority of the 
people were not satisfied with their location. 
They found the stony hillsides more unyield- 
ing of produce than they had hoped, and lis- 
tened with envious ears to the tale of more 
fertile farms to be had in Pennsylvania, whither 
many of the settlers at the Camps and Schoharie 
had migrated. A large proportion of them, 
after not long debate, sold their farms upon 
the Quassaick, and departed to join their com- 
patriots in the valleys of the Swatara and Tulpe- 
hocken. The sale of these farms brought 
many of them, indeed the most of them, into 
the possession of others than Palatines, who 
were called by the original settlers, *' Dutch 
and English new-comers." With these began 
the influx of immigrants of other stocks, an in- 



74 The Palatines 

coming promoted by Governor Golden, whose 
son Alexander had large holdings in the neigh- 
borhood, with the result that in a short time 
the few remaining Palatines were very largely 
outnumbered by the Dutch, Scotch, and Eng- 
lish. It was but a natural issue that the direc- 
tion of vicinage and church affairs should soon 
pass from the hands of the Palatines. Men of 
Enoflish blood were chosen in Parish Meetino- 
as Trustees of the Glebe and Church, and steps 
were at once taken to brino- the Church into 
connection with the Church of England. This 
took place in 1743 and thereupon the " Pala- 
tine Parish by Quassaick " ceased to exist, 
though it was not until 1751 that the Glebe 
was finally turned over by Letters-Patent to 
the Church of England. 

And this must end our story of the New- 
burgh Palatines, the majority of whom had 
sought other and distant homes. But they left 
behind them a sturdy stock who, though soon 
absorbed into the general life of the non- 
Palatine community, have left monuments of 
their worth. Themselves and their descend- 
ants — not a few of whom have to-day, in the 
fair city of Newburgh, names on the roll of 



The Exodus 75 

Kockerthal's companions — were "not a whit 
behind " the men of other stock in the expres- 
sion of soHdity of character, intellectual alert- 
ness, love of freedom, and moral worth, — 
equal factors in building up the civil and re- 
ligious institutions of their city and State. 

We turn now to the far more extensive 
migration which, in the year after the depart- 
ure of Kockerthal and his first company from 
the country of the Rhine, followed them to 
England. Of this movement, as of its pre- 
cursor, no records are extant, or accessible, 
detailing its organization and departure from 
the Palatinate. Among the influences helping 
the decision to emigrate at that time, Conrad 
Weiser — himself one of the emigrants and 
twelve years of age at the time — in an auto- 
biography written in his old age instances the 
severities of the winter of 1708-9. "Birds 
perished on the wing, beasts in their lairs, and 
mortals fell dead in the way."''^' 

The first mention of the exodus as begun is 
in the recorded presence of the Palatines in 
London in surprising numbers, to the no small 
astonishment of the English people and the 

* Life of Conrad IVeiscr. 



76 The Palatines 

equal perplexity and embarrassment of the 
authorities. The migration was evidently a 
concerted one at home, with lines stretching 
into all parts of the principality. The impres- 
sion made by it at Rotterdam and London 
was such as would be caused by the irruption 
of an entire tribe. Weiser has a fine bit of 
fervid description. " A migrating epidemic 
seized on the stricken people, and, as a wave, 
thirty thousand Germans washed along the 
shores of England. Israel was not more as- 
tounded at the armored carcasses of the Egyp- 
tians lying by the banks of the Red Sea, than 
were the people of England at this immense 
slide of humanity." 

Both for charity's sake and in their own 
defence, the people of Rotterdam speeded 
them over the channel into England and to 
London, where their swarming numbers put to 
the proof, not only the ingenuity of the gov- 
ernment to devise their future destination, but 
also its ability to provide for their pressing 
and immediate needs.* They began to arrive 
in London in May of 1709, and by the end of 
June their numbers amounted to five thousand. 

* Trans. Alb. Ins., 1871, p. 106. 



The Exodus "j^ 

Before August was passed this number was 
nearly doubled, while thirteen thousand is set 
as the aggregate by the end of October. In 
the London of to-day such an influx would be 
little more than a drop in the bucket ; and yet, 
even to-day, were a horde of thirteen thousand 
men, women, and children to suddenly throng 
its streets, most of them without a penny to 
pay for food or lodging, many of them in rags 
and tatters, there might be furnished something 
of perplexity in finding a solution to the prob- 
lem of their immediate care. In the London 
of two hundred years ago the facilities for car- 
ing for the traveller and the stranger were 
of the crudest and most limited description. 
Those who could pay their way must put up 
with many discomforts in the inns, which were 
few and of small capacity. The city was en- 
tirely unprovided with ready means to meet 
the demands thus suddenly made by the flock- 
ing Palatines, who, pouring in such crowds 
upon London, threw themselves upon the gen- 
erosity of the English government and people. 
They seemed to say : " Here we are. What 
are you going to do for us ? What are you 
going to do with us ? " 



78 The Palatines 

It is difficult to imagine the state of per- 
plexity which at the first must have filled the 
official mind. In the past it had not been 
accustomed to deal with such problems, or to 
concern itself about the poverty or destruction 
of the poor. But this problem was so great 
and the appeal of the Palatines so strident, 
that a hearing ear and active hand were com- 
pelled. The impression made upon all the 
English was profound, and the interest in this 
great company of refugees was felt, far beyond 
the limits of the capital, in many parts of the 
kingdom. Beyond all cavil, whatever may 
have been the neglect and aversion in a follow- 
ing year, the immediate response of the Eng- 
lish court and people to this appeal, was nobly 
generous, to such extent that nothing else like 
it can be cited from the history of centuries 
before our own. No doubt one strong motive 
with the authorities was found in the absolute 
necessity of the case. They could not have 
these Palatines perish by starvation in their 
streets. Something must be done to keep life 
in them while in London, and something also 
to rid London of their burden. But far more 
than this, which the closest self-interest would 



The Exodus 79 

demand, the appeal seems to have touched the 
chord of sympathy in the EngHsh heart in 
both city and country. Queen Anne, who, 
though lacking in many of the qualities needful, 
not only for a monarch, but also for a strong 
character, was of tender heart, became greatly 
interested and took the poor people under her 
special care. This care aided them effectively 
at the first, and would have protected them 
against some of the oppressions of the near 
future, had she possessed tenacity of purpose 
and strength of will to resist squabbling poli- 
ticians. 

The immediate needs of the people were 
met in a way which for that day must be ac- 
counted magnificent. The Queen allowed 
ninepence each per day for present subsistence, 
and lodgings were provided in various parts 
of London. One thousand tents, taken from 
the army stores and pitched on the Surrey 
side of the Thames, sheltered the greater 
number. Fourteen hundred were lodged for 
four months in the warehouses of Sir Charles 
Cox. Many occupied barns until they were 
needed for the crops. A smaller number 
found lodgment in empty dwellings, while the 



So The Palatines 

few among them with means obtained quarters 
at the inns. In some instances buildings were 
put up for them, of which a monument still 
remains in a hamlet at the west of London, 
where four buildings, yet called "the Palatine 
Houses," were erected for these people by the 
Parish of Newington. Much of this generous 
provision was due to the kindly interest of the 
Queen, who not only gave of her own purse, 
and incited her government to similar action, 
but issued briefs calling for collections through- 
out the kincrdom. It is estimated that the 
sums, expended by the government and contrib- 
uted by the people of England for the sup- 
port and final establishment of the Palatines 
In Ireland and America, aggregated the enor- 
mous amount of ;^i 35,000.* 

Of course, the question of the future dispo- 
sition of these people was as urgent as their 
Immediate subsistence. Mortimer says that 
there was no settled plan (among the Palatines) 
for their settlement anywhere. Burnet seems 
to agree with him, and represents that the 
people In the Palatinate were "so ravished" 

* Trans, Alb, Ins., 1871, p. 107. Burnet, iv., 63. Mortimer, 
iii., 233. 



The Exodus 8i 

by the report of what kindness had been 
shown to Kockerthal and his companions 
in London, that these thousands pressed 
thither to throw themselves in Hke manner 
on the bounty of the Queen. The intima- 
tions, however, are numerous in the colonial 
records that the emigration was with the 
intention of reaching America at last. To 
be sent thither was the first request of Kock- 
erthal, and the first request also of this larger 
body of emigrants. America evidently was 
to them the land of promise, where only 
their exodus could find its object. True, in 
their destitution of all means towards reach- 
ing their hope, they had to put themselves 
on the generous consideration of the English 
government, — and were compelled also to sub- 
mit themselves to its discretion and direc- 
tion. Yet a settlement in America was the 
constant object of their desire. The long 
delay of months in London acted upon some 
of them as a discouragement, and they were 
quite ready to turn their steps towards other 
locations. Not a few of the men enlisted in 
the British army, and perhaps a few hundreds, 
wandering singly — or in small companies — 



82 The Palatines 

through the rural parts of England, found 
permanent homes in its scattered towns and 
villages. Some also remained in London, 
going into domestic service or finding engage- 
ments in their special handicrafts. Some 
were sent by the authorities back to their 
native country, on account of their religious 
faith.* It was stated that about one tenth of 
the emigrants were Roman Catholics, whose 
presence among their Protestant countrymen 
can be easily explained by the natural desire 
for either adventure or improvement of con- 
dition. The government would not send men 
of their faith into the colonies, neither was it 
willing to permit their prolonged residence 
in England. In consequence of this dispo- 
sition and the pressure thereby brought to 
bear upon these Romanists, many of them 
became Protestants, while those who were 
tenacious of their faith were returned under 
government passports to the Palatinate. 

But, though the reduction in numbers by all 
these means was considerable, the great mass 
still remained to tax the ingenuity of the 
authorities. The emphatic recognition of the 

* Luttrell's Z'/rt';'/, vi., 473, 4S9. 



The Exodus 83 

grave character of the situation is well ex- 
pressed by the high rank of those who were 
at first charged with the care of these people. 
The receipt and distribution of money for 
their relief, and the duty of considering and 
suggesting plans for their disposal, were put 
into the hands of a committee, appointed by 
the Queen, on which were persons of so 
exalted station as the Archbishop of Canter- 
bury and the Lord High Chancellor. 

The first suggestion was to settle the peo- 
ple in various parts of England as, if feasible, 
attended by the least expense. By parcell- 
ing them out in small companies among the 
hundreds of the English counties, the entire 
volume could easily be absorbed into the com- 
munity, and in time would add to the national 
wealth. The nature of the Parish Laws, how- 
ever, was such as to present so many obstacles 
to the scheme, that it was decided to be im- 
practicable. 

It was also proposed to settle them in a 
body in the New Forest of Hampshire, where ''' 
lands could be parcelled out to them by shares 
or lots from the royal demesnes. This also 

* Mortimer's ^«^/<T«a', iii., 233. 



84 The Palatines 

proved only a futile suggestion. To establish 
a foreign community in the heart of England 
was regarded as dangerous to the welfare 
of the nation. Doubtless also the tenacity 
with which the great majority of the Palatines 
held to their desire of transportation to 
America, went far to discourage all attempts 
to make for them an English domicile. Lut- 
trell * states that the merchants of Bedford 
and Barnstaple, who were engaged in the 
New Foundland fisheries, designed employing 
five hundred of them in their service. This 
may have been done, — and it is altogether prob- 
able that in such ways many of the people 
were provided for. Indeed, some disposition 
of the kind, the employment on land and sea 
in various trades, must have taken place with 
regard to a very considerable number. Other- 
wise we cannot account for the disparity 
between the numbers reported in London in 
October of 1709, and the aggregate of the 
several recorded shipments of them out of 
England. These amount to the sum of seven 
thousand and five hundred persons. This 
aggregate, in case the statement is correct 

*J')iiiry, vi., 41^6. 



The Exodus 85 

that the number coming into England was 
thirteen thousand, would leave over five thou- 
sand to be otherwise accounted for. But of 
this there is no record, and their final dis- 
position must be set down to the score of 
various employments within the kingdom, and 
unrecorded dispersions into many parts of the 
country. 

There were three large shipments of the 
people, of which record is made. The first 
was to Ireland, of which only brief account 
need be here made. To the Commissioners, 
pondering over the problem of the proper 
disposition of the Palatines, the Lord Lieu- 
tenant of Ireland represented that land and 
occupation for a large number of them could 
be found in his government. The proposition, 
being approved by the Commissioners and the 
Queen, was laid before Parliament, which 
voted ;!^24,ooo for the transportation of the 
company sent thither and their immediate 
subsistence upon arrival.* Five hundred fam- 
ilies, comprising thirty-eight hundred souls 
were at once sent over. Luttrell writes, under 

* Mort. Etig., iii. , 233, 

Luttrell's Diary, vi., 474. 

Larned's Hist, for Heady Reference, \v., 2^12. 



86 The Palatines 

date of 9th of August, 1 709, " An abundance 
of them are gone hence in waggons for Ches- 
ter, to embark for Ireland." They were set- 
tled in Munster, where, being provided with 
land, they soon made for themselves homes 
and became a sturdy stock, useful and influ- 
ential in the country.* The English traveller, 
Farrar, writes of them, early in the present 
century : " They [their descendants] have left 
off sauer-kraut and taken up potatoes, tho 
still preserving their own language. . . 
Their superstitions still savor the banks of the 
Rhine, and in their dealing they are upright 
and honorable." Kohl, a German traveller, 
in 1840, writes of them that "they had not 
lost their home character for probity and 
honor, and are much wealthier than their 
neighbors." 

The second large shipment of the Palatines 
was to the Carolinas. They sailed from Eng- 
land in the early autumn of 1 709. The expe- 
dition was at the suggestion of two natives of 
Berne, one a nobleman named Cristopher de 
Graffenried, and the other Lewis Michell, a 
merchant. Of the two, De Graffenried was 

* Penn, Hist. Mag., x., 381. 



The Exodus 87 

the controlhng spirit in their associated affairs, 
and finally, for some reason which does not 
appear, seems to have engrossed them all, as 
in the subsequent story he alone appears to be 
considered as of responsibility and authority. 
Michell, at this time a resident in London, 
had spent years in America, having been sent 
thither by the Canton of Berne to look for a 
location for a colony. The two associates had 
bought of the Carolina Proprietaries ten thou- 
sand acres of land between the Neuse and 
Cape Fear rivers, paying for them twenty 
shillings sterling for each one hundred acres, 
and at a yearly rental of six pence per one 
hundred acres.* They had also agreed with 
the authorities that the Surveyor General 
should lay out for them in addition to this 
tract one hundred thousand acres more, to be 
held for them twelve years, probably with an 
option to assume the ownership thereof accord- 
ing as the success or failure of the colonizing 
scheme might dictate. It is noted that the 
title to these lands was vested in De Graffen- 
ried alone, and because of this great estate, 
together with his semi-lordship over the colon- 

* Hav.-ks's N. Carolina, ii., 86. 



88 The Palatines 

ists, he received the title of Landgrave. In 
many of the colonial references he is called 
Baron. 

Williamson * writes : " This company, hav- 
ing secured the lands, wished to make them 
productive by settling them with tenants, and 
the poor Palatines presented themselves as an 
object of speculation." To this language Hawks 
makes strenuous exception, as quite careless 
and also unworthy of the circumstances. Such 
objection were certainly valid if it were to be 
considered as reflecting upon the Palatines and 
the worthiness of their cause. But this reflec- 
tion is not necessarily involved, and so far as 
De Graffenried's subsequent conduct can de- 
clare his motive at the beginning of the en- 
terprise, the language can hardly be declared 
unjust as applied to him. It would appear that 
the two associates, having gotten possession 
of the land for the projected colony, reported 
thereon to the cantonal authorities of Berne, 
by whom Michell had been sent on his pros- 
pecting tour. For, when they enter into the 
story of the Palatines, they are already ac- 
companied in London by a considerable num- 

* History of N. Carolina, i., 1S3. 



The Exodus 89 

ber of Swiss, who may be supposed to have 
been attracted to their enterprise by their re- 
port. Possibly some of these Swiss, if not all, 
may have been sent by the government of 
Berne, in pursuance of the plan which had 
suggested sending an agent to America. 
However that may be, the beginnings of the 
Swiss colony were with De Graffenried and 
Michell in London in the summer of 1709, at 
the time when the Queen and Council, the 
Lords of Trade and the Parliament were trying 
to solve the problem of the Palatines. Of 
the volume of this Swiss contingent no exact 
record is preserved. One account sets it at 
fifteen hundred, but this can hardly be consid- 
ered as correct. Probably their number was less 
than half so great ; at all events, sufficiently 
small not to dominate the Palatine element in 
the new settlement ; for whatever their number, 
that settlement was constantly known as Pala- 
tine, so spoken of by De Graffenried and by the 
Carolina authorities. It is safe to suppose that 
the associates looked upon this Swiss emigra- 
tion as not large enough for the needs and 
success of their enterprise. Hence they were 
quick to see the advantage presented by the 



90 The Palatines 

Palatines seeking a home and the authorities 
seeking relief from the burden of their support. 
They soon approached the Commissioners with 
propositions to take some of this " poor people " 
to their new plantation in Carolina. Luttrell* 
records, under date of 6 Oct. 1709, that "the 
Commissioners about the poor Palatines had 
resolved to send forthwith 600 to Carolina," 
Another hundred should be added to this as 
the number of the Palatines who came to this 
country with De Graffenried. 

The Articles of Agreement between "the 
Commissioners and Trustees under the Queen's 
bounty for the subsistence and settlement of 
the German Palatines," and the two associates, 
make a very interesting document, as illustrat- 
ing not only the destitute condition of that 
people, but the large spirit of generosity and 
care toward them, which at first possessed the 
English mind. Some of its expressions and 
provisions should be here quoted.f It recites 
the purchase of land by De Graffenried and 
Michell, " now waste and good for settlement," 
and says that the Commissioners 

* Diary, vi., 496. 
f llawks's A'. Carolina, ii., 54. 



The Exodus 91 

*' thought fit to dispose of, for this purpose, six hundred 
persons of the said Palatines, which may be ninety-two 
families more or less — they have laid out and disposed 
of to each of the said six hundred poor Palatines the sum 
of twenty shillings in clothes — and likewise paid to said 
De Graffenried and Michell the sum of five pd. ten sh. 
for each, for transportation to North Carolina and com- 
fortable support there." 

The agents are " within two days to embark 
them in two ships, for North Carolina, and 
provide for them on the way." After arrival 
in the new settlement the agents are " within 
three months to have surveyed two hundred 
and fifty acres for each family, to be divided to 
each by lot, to be contiguous for the sake of 
society and of religion." This land was to be 
given to them in fee, to hold free of rent for 
five years, and afterwards at a rental of two 
pence per acre. 

During the first year the partners were to 
supply to the "said poor Palatines sufificient 
quantities of grain and other provisions and 
necessaries for their comfortable support and re- 
lief," — such outlay to be repaid by the Palatines 
at the end of three years. Also, "within four 
months" they were to " provide to each family 
two cows, two calves, two sows with their last 



92 The Palatines 

litter, two ewe sheep and two lambs, with a 
male of each of said kind of cattle to propagate 
and increase." This is to be repaid by the 
Palatines at the end of seven years. In ad- 
dition the partners, " immediately after the 
partition of the land, shall give and dispose of 
gratis a sufficient quantity of tools for working 
the ground and building houses." It is also 
directed that "the conveyances of land shall be 
registered," and that " beyond what stipulations 
are herein contained " De Graft'enried and 
Michell, their heirs and assigns, shall have no 
further claim against the settlers. Then, as 
making still more positive the benevolent pur- 
poses of the Commissioners, it is further en- 
joined that "these articles are to be construed 
in the most favorable sense for the ease, com- 
fort, and advantage of the said poor Palatines, 
and in cases of difficulty the Governor of North 
Carolina shall decide in conformity with this 
agreement and contract." 

Evidently, thus far in their migration, the 
poor people had fallen into very kindly hands, 
and one can hardly imagine more favorable 
disposition towards a band of destitute emi- 
grants. To the extent that a formal agreement 



The Exodus 93 

could effect, the estabhshment of this colony 
was under most auspicious conditions. These, 
however, were not all fulfilled. 

The voyage across the Atlantic, begun early 
in October and completed late in December, 
1709, was remarkably quick for that day of 
ocean travel. The expedition ascended the 
Neuse River to the junction of the Trent, and 
there landing began their first settlement, to 
which they gave the name of New Berne, in 
memory of the native city of the two Swiss 
partners. Here and in the neighboring coun- 
try, chiefly on the borders of the streams, the 
people settled down, cleared portions of the 
land and built their humble homes, confident 
of present safe harborage at last and hopeful 
of a prosperous future. Not all things, how- 
ever, were consonant with this hope. 

The partners — or, more properly speaking, 
De Graffenried, for we hear no more of 
Michell in the affair — proved unfaithful to 
the contract. The particulars are but meagre, 
and it may be that the Baron provided for 
the immediate necessities of the people, but 
it is certain that he never fulfilled the aeree- 
ment to allot lands to them in fee. The 



94 The Palatines 

Minutes of the Council of North Carolina,* 
under date of 6th Nov. 1714, contain a 
petition from the Palatines, setting forth that 
" they were disappointed of their lands," and 
praying the Council that each family, " now 
greatly impoverished by the Indian War," 
might be allowed to take up four hundred 
acres, on two years' payment. This petition 
was favorably received by the Council and the 
case represented to the Proprietaries, with 
recommendation that the prayer be gt;anted. 
We may suppose, with no injustice to De 
Graffenried, that he at no time intended to 
give titles to the Palatines. By what way 
he procured the sole title to the entire tract 
as vested in himself, to the exclusion of his 
partner, Michell, does not appear. But the 
fact that it was so, and that Michell soon 
disappears from the enterprise, as tho crowded 
out of participation, together with the failure 
to give the promised titles to the Palatines, 
argue ambitious schemes on the part of De 
Graffenried, similar to those entertained by 
other great landholders in the colonies, to 
found a Barony in North Carolina. To this 

* tiavvks, ii., 87. 



The Exodus 95 

end he would refrain from conveying any of 
the land to other possession than his own, 
and keep the entire settlement as tenants on 
his Manor. However diverse this is from 
his own agreements, it does not seem too 
severe a judgment on the facts in hand. On 
one occasion he called himself the " Kinsf of 
the Palatines" — perhaps only to be regarded 
as a clever ruse to save himself out of the 
murderous hands of the Indians. Yet, taken 
in connection with the other facts just noted, 
the assumption of that title would indicate 
a habit of thought more permanent than a 
moment of peril. 

The peril, which moved him to assume a 
royal style, proved the means of his early 
separation from the Palatines and America. 
It came upon him suddenly, while exploring 
the lands up the Neuse River, which the 
Indians regarded as their own and not to be 
encroached upon by the whites. De Graf- 
fenried was accompanied on this expedition 
by a negro servant, and by John Lawson, 
who had recently been made Surveyor Gen- 
eral of North Carolina.* The Indian tribes 

* Williamson's iV. Car., i., i88. 



9^ The Palatines 

along the coast had already been decimated 
by disease, rum and conflicts with the Eng- 
lish, and were able to offer no further opposi- 
tion to the advance of the settlements. But 
the Tuscaroras, who had had little contact 
with the whites, still abode in their strength. 
Lawson was already familiar to them and 
obnoxious. He had not long since surveyed 
two larger tracts, which to the Indians seemed 
to threaten their own title, and excited their 
anger against him. For this reason they laid 
in wait and captured Lawson and his com- 
panions, when they had gone some distance 
up the Neuse. The prisoners were dragged 
before the Indian Council and condemned to 
death. It was then that De Graffenried saved 
his life by claiming a royal rank, assuring the 
Indians that he was not English and had 
naught to do with the encroachments of the 
English, but was the King of the Palatines, 
a peaceful folk, who had recently come to the 
country. The assumed dignity imposed upon 
the Indians, who spared his life. But it was 
not a bar to the slaughter of his compan- 
ions. They killed both Lawson and the 
negro, with the usual refinements of Indian 



The Exodus 97 

executions, and after five days suffered De 
Graffenried to depart. He is said during 
these days to have formed a treaty with the 
Indians for the protection of the Palatines, 
who were not disturbed on the occasion of 
the massacre at Bath. Some of the terms of 
the treaty bind the contracting parties "to 
show friendship towards each other." " No 
land is to be taken up by the Baron without 
the consent of the Indians." In case of war 
between the English and the Indians, the 
Palatines were to remain neutral. In regard 
to this last provision, I note that a petition 
of the Palatines, of somewhat later date, 
alleges that they "were called out to defend 
the country, by orders from Edenton (z. e., the 
Governor), while their Trustee was a prisoner 
among the Indians." 

And so the Baron saved himself alive and 
returned to his city of New Berne. But the 
experience seems to have completely disgusted 
him with America and all schemes of coloni- 
zation. Shortly thereafter he departed for 
Virginia or Switzerland, never to come back 
again to his Palatine kingdom. What he did 
with his land-title is by no means clear. Wil- 



98 The Palatines 

liamson says that he mortgaged his whole tract 
to Thomas Pollock for ^800. This is denied 
by Hawks. Another and unknown writer,* 
says that he sold his estate to Pollock for ;!f 800, 
and moved to Virginia, to the settlement of 
Germans established by Governor Spotswood 
at Germanna. It is very probable that the 
transaction with Pollock was a sale, but the 
removal of De Graffenried to Virginia seems 
to be predicated only on the presence there, 
fifty years after, of a Metcalf De Graffenried, 
probably a grandson of the Baron. At all 
events, the Swiss leader disappears from the 
Palatine affairs. 

After his departure, the people, as William- 
son writes, 

" being industrious and living in a country where 
land was plenty and cheap, increased in number and 
acquired property. After many years, upon their peti- 
tion to the king, they were in some measure indem- 
nified by a grant of land of ten thousand acres, free 
from quit-rents for ten years." f 

The treaty of the Baron with the Indians 
did not effectually protect the settlement which, 
two years afterwards, suffered a loss by mas- 
sacre of one hundred and twelve.;^ In con- 

'^ Virginia Historical Coll. New Series, v., 134, 135. 
f v., 185. X Martin s //i St. of N. Car,, i., 245. 



The Exodus 99 

sequence of this severe experience many of 
the people are said to have removed to the 
less exposed settlement in Virginia, where 
many of their countrymen had already found 
a home. But by far the greater number re- 
mained to build up the city and country of their 
first settlement, where many local marks and 
living names bear witness of their foundation. 
Of the Palatine settlement in Virginia a few 
words should be written, and only a few words 
are possible, so indefinite are the notices of it 
on public record and in colonial history. The 
settlement was a special pet of Governor Spots- 
wood, and was by him "founded on a horse- 
shoe peninsula of four hundred acres in the 
Rapidan. The little town was called Ger- 
manna, after the Germans sent over by Queen 
Anne and settled in that quarter." * This was 
a " settlement of German Protestants, recently 
effected under the Governor's auspices in a re- 
gion hitherto unpeopled on the Rapidan." f 
This is about all that is recorded of the oriofin 
of the settlement at Germanna. But it is not 
difficult to supply some items by means of the 
argument of probabilities. Gov. Spotswood 

* Vir^. Hist. SW., i.,pp. x., xiii. 
f Campbell's //isi. of Virginia, p. 381. 

LOFa 



loo The Palatines 

was in London, and was appointed to his govern- 
ment of Virginia, at the time when the Pala- 
tines were awaiting in that city the disposition 
to be made for them by the government. The 
large companies to Ireland and North Carolina 
had already been forwarded, and matters were 
in train for shipping to New York with Gover- 
nor Hunter some three thousand more. As 
Spotswood arrived in Virginia in June of 1710, 
the same month in which Hunter landed at 
New York, his departure and Hunter's from 
England must have been at about the same 
time : and although there is no record accessi- 
ble of any contract or orders to him to care for 
a colony of Palatines, it seems to be certain 
that the Queen and the Commissioners did not 
fail to avail themselves of the opportunity af- 
forded by his departure to provide for still 
another portion of that people. How large 
the company was we have, of course, no means 
of telling, but they doubtless came over with 
Spotswood under the commendation and at 
the expense of the Queen. Spotswood him- 
self was a man of generous nature, felt a sym- 
pathy for the suffering and destitute people, 
took constant interest in them and opened iron 



The Exodus loi 

mines in the vicinity, both for their employment 
and his own profit. At the expiration of his 
official life he did not return to England, but 
retired to Germanna, among his beloved Pala- 
tines, and there built for himself a home of 
palatial proportions for the day and place, de- 
scribed by Spotswood's friend, Col. William 
Byrd * as " an enchanted castle." The locality, 
the fortunes of the first settlers and the charac- 
ter and hospitality of Spotswood, seem to have 
made this settlement of the Palatines the sub- 
ject of much tradition, very little of which has 
gone upon record. Conway says,f " The Ger- 
mans he [Spotswood] imported had a curious 
story, yet to be told ; and the town Germanna 
which he founded on the upper Rappahannock 
is the haunt of romance." 

Some ten or fifteen years after Spotswood's 
retirement to Germanna, a company of Ger- 
mans came into Virginia from Pennsylvania, 
doubtless Palatines from Berks County. They 
took up forty thousand acres in the lower 
Shenandoah valley, and founded the town of 
Strasburg, just over the mountain from Ger- 

* Magill's Hist, of Virginia, p. 122. 
\ Barons of the Potomac, p. 18. 

Lorc. 



I02 The Palatines 

manna.* It is not only of this later immigra- 
tion, but also of its predecessor, that we are 
to understand Cooke's words : " To this day, 
the Germans constitute an element of the pop- 
ulation, and in some places the language is 
still spoken." In a spirit of high commenda- 
tion of this stock. Prof. Henneman f (whose 
name would seem to indicate for himself a 
Palatine extraction) says : 

" The German element seems at first sight not to have 
been so pronounced as might have been expected from 
their early contact. This is due in large measure to their 
natural conservatism and their contentment, clustering by 
themselves, to lead simple, thrifty, and comparatively se- 
cluded lives. In reality the geography of the State has 
been deeply affected, as the number of post-offices bear- 
ing German appellations testify. William Wirt, Judges 
Conrad and Sheffey J and Governors Kemper, Koiner 
and Speece are among the prominent representatives of 
this race." 

* Cooke's Hist, of Virginia^ p. 323. 

f Virg. Hist. Coll. New Series, xi., 30. 

X Probably a derivative from the name Schoeffer. 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE EXPERIMENT. 



WE return now to London, and the incep- 
tion of that enterprise, which brought 
with Governor Hunter to New 
York nearly three thousand of the Palatines. 
This is the special immigration of these people, 
which is best known, and generally supposed 
to be referred to when any allusion is made to 
the coming of the Palatines to this country. 
The story of it is well worth exactness of 
narrative, by which sundry misunderstandings 
may be corrected. 

While the Palatines were yet in London, 
and the authorities perplexed as to the best 
way in which to "dispose of" them, there 
came to England an important delegation from 
the Province of New York. The chief per- 



103 



I04 The Palatines 

sons in it were Peter Schuyler, the Mayor of 
Albany, and Col. Nicholson, one of Her Majes- 
ty's officers in America. Their mission was 
to urge by personal presence and speech, more 
urgently than was possible to any written ap- 
peal, the need of more generous measures on 
the part of the home government for the de- 
fence of the province against the French and 
their allied Indians. In the recent past the 
attacks of these foes had been very persistent 
and severe, while the colonists felt that the 
government of England had neglected to 
afford them all the support and aid which were 
their due. Col. Schuyler, by a happy and in- 
ventive thought, conceived the idea that the 
cause would be greatly furthered by taking to 
England some Indian chiefs and exhibiting them 
"in their barbaric costume,* knowing that the 
movements of nations are often caused by the 
veriest trifles." He succeeded in inducing five 
Sachems of the Mohawks to go with him, and 
speedily found that he had contrived a very 
efficient scheme. " The arrival of the Sachems 
occasioned great observation throughout the 

*Dunlap's Hist, of Neiu York, i., 269. 

See also Parkman, Half Century of Conflict, i., 141. 



The Experiment 105 

kingdom." * Crowds followed them in the 
streets, and small pictures of them were widely 
sold. " The court was in mourning for the 
Prince of Denmark, and the Indians were 
dressed in black underclothes, but a scarlet 
inofrain cloth mantle was thrown over all other 
garments." The English and the Indians 
alike were delighted with the exhibition. The 
Guards were reviewed for their entertainment, 
and they were taken to see the plays in the 
theatres. They were given an audience by the 
Queen, to whom they presented belts of wam- 
pum, and represented that, not only the Eng- 
lish colonists, but also the friendly Indians, 
needed a more efficient defence against the 
French. " The reduction of Canada," they 
urged, " would be of great weight to our free 
hunting." It is interesting to note that, so far 
as promises would go, the scheme of Schuyler 
was very successful, and the " government en- 
gaged to send to New York a sufficient arma- 
ment for the conquest of Canada," which was 
not done at that time. 

It is possible that one or two of the five 
sachems may have been Mohican. f Hopkins 

* Holmes's Annals, i., 503. 

\ Historical ]\Ie)iioirs Relating to the Ilousatunnuk Indians, p. 16. 
Ruttenbei's Indian Tribes of HudsoTt's River, p. 188. 



io6 The Palatines 

relates that Mr. Sergeant, missionary to the 
Indians about Stockbridge, took to New Haven 
for education two lads, one of whom was named 
" Etowankaum, who, by the way, is Grandson 
by his mother to Etowankaum, chief of the 
River Indians [Mohicans], who was in England 
in Queen Ann's Reign." 

One of the five died on the passage to Eng- 
land. Addison in No. 50 of the Spectator, 
and in No. 171 of the Tatler, refers to this 
embassy. The former reference is worth 
quoting as stating that Addison himself fol- 
lowed Xki^four Indian chiefs about, to observe 
their manners and their effect upon the popu- 
lace. He gives the names of two of them ; 
Sa Ga Yean Qua Rash Tow, and " E Tow O 
Koam, King of the Rivers." The forms of 
these names would almost suggest that they 
were invented by Addison, but the likeness of 
the latter to Etowankaum makes them rather 
illustrative of the gentle essayist's struggles 
with an unknown tongue. Doubtless the 
former also was an honest effort to anglicize a 
genuine name, tho its proper form does not 
appear. Addison goes on to give portions of 
a writing by Sa Ga Yean Qua Rash Tow, left 



The Experiment 107 

by him at his lodging-place in London. It 
purports to be a comment on the sights of 
London and the manners of the people, but is 
evidently a pure invention of Addison himself, 
using the occasion to indulge his amiable satire 
upon the foibles of English life, and as a sup- 
posed Indian repartee for the abundant com- 
ments on themselves by the curious English 
mind. 

Now, the connection between this Indian 
embassy and the Palatines is found in a cir- 
cumstance, of which the government made 
small account, but which exercised a great 
and determining influence on their fortunes. 
It so happened that while these chiefs were in 
London they came in contact with the Pala- 
tines. "In their walks in the outskirts of Lon- 
don they saw the unenviable condition of the 
houseless and homeless Germans ; and one of 
them, unsolicited and voluntarily, presented the 
Queen a tract of his land in Schoharie, N. Y., for 
the use and benefit of the distressed Germans."* 

Weiser in his autobiography says, that 
"five chiefs of the Mohawk Indians saw and 
pitied the wretched condition of the people, 

*Rupps's Berks Co., p. 1S9, quoted from Hallishe Nachrichten. 



io8 The Palatines 

and offered to open to the perishing mass their 
hunting grounds beyond the sea." 

This incident, notable and pathetic, seems 
at first thought quite improbable. We are 
not wont to think of the Indian as a pitiful 
benefactor. And yet, tho no other formal 
record of it is found, we may safely conclude 
that the story is substantially true. As will 
be seen, the English authorities, at the out- 
set of the emigration to New York, had in 
mind that Schoharie was to be the location of 
the new settlement. We find also frequent 
references afterwards by the Palatines them- 
selves to Schoharie as "given to the Queen, 
for them," and as a land already promised to 
them by the Queen, to which they should be 
allowed to depart from their desolate condition 
on the Hudson. It is difTficult to account for 
the prepossession towards that exquisite valley 
on the frontier, except on the supposition that 
this gift by the Indian Sachem was actually 
made. Certainly, the larger portion of these 
three thousand emigrants left London with 
Schoharie as the synonym of their hope, and 
were not satisfied until they looked on its level 
meadows and lordly hills. 



The Experiment 109 

The Commissioners, having sent off to Ire- 
land that large colony, noted in the last chap- 
ter, immediately set themselves to devising 
means for the disposition of the rest of the 
people. Two days after the contingent bound 
for Ireland had left London, the Board of 
Trade made to the Queen additional * sugges- 
tions, to the effect that the remainder of the 
Palatines, or so many of them as possible, be 
transported at government's cost to America, 
and be settled on Hudson's River; — that they 
should be supported for one year and be sup- 
plied with all needed tools, and that the Queen 
should grant to every one, "without fee or 
reward, the usual and like number of acres as 
was granted, or directed to be granted, to every 
one of the Palatines f lately sent thither, and 
under like conditions." It is suggested tenta- 
tively that the people might find employment, 
alike advantageous to themselves and the 
government, in the production of Naval Stores. 
And then, with a startling buoyancy of imagi- 
nation, the grave Lords of Trade, premising 
that the colony of Virginia produces many 
wild grapes, suggests that such of the Palatines 

* Col. Hist, of N. F.,v.,72. f Kockerthal's first company. 



no The Palatines 

as had been accustomed to viticulture might 
be sent to that plantation, so that through the 
wine to be made by them " a new and profitable 
trade might be introduced to the benefit of this 
Kingdom." This is but one of several tokens 
that the authorities, at the beg-inninor of their 
ventures with the Palatines, had very high an- 
ticipations of great returns to be made from the 
enterprises undertaken. Of this prospective 
wine trade we hear no more ; but it is not at all 
improbable, that it occupied place in the plans 
under which, in the following winter. Spots- 
wood took with him to Virginia the colony 
which settled at Germanna. 

This action of the Board of Trade was taken 
in August, but a delay of several months oc- 
curred before any further steps were made 
towards the execution of its purpose. Mean- 
while the Commissioners were interested in 
sending out the emigration to North Carolina 
under De Graffenried and Michell ; and the 
authorities were exercised about the choice of 
a new governor for the Province of New York, 
that office having recently become vacant 
through the death of Lord Lovelace, after a 
tenure of only a few months. 



The Experiment iii 

Their choice settled upon Col. Robert Hun- 
ter, a man eminently fitted for the position, 
and, as it proved, without a superior among 
all the royal governors in the American prov- 
inces. He was born in Scotland, of poor 
and humble parentage, and while yet a boy 
was apprenticed to an apothecary."^' Of an 
exceedingly active mind, he must have ap- 
plied himself to its improvement with con- 
siderable diligence, for, while not possessed of 
any special external educational advantages, 
he gives proof of an intellectual cultivation 
far above his station and in after life be- 
came the friend of Addison, Steele, Swift, and 
the other wits of that day. Of an ambi- 
tious nature, disdaining the obscure and plod- 
ding trade to which he had been bound, he 
ran away and enlisted as a common soldier. 
He was possessed of great personal beauty and 
fine soldierly bearing, qualities which at once 
attracted notice, commending him to the favor 
of his superiors and resulting in his speedy 
promotion from the ranks to high commission. 
They also procured for him the attention and 
regard of Lady Hay, widow of Lord Hay, who 

* Dunlap's Hist, of N. F, , p. 270. Booth's Hist, of N. Y. , p. 286. 



112 The Palatines 

was the owner of a large fortune. The affection 
between the two soon ripened into marriage, 
the beginning of a wedded life of rare devotion 
and happiness, and the termination of which, 
by the death of Lady Hunter in 1716, made 
for the Governor an incurable wound. In 1707 
he was appointed Lt. Governor of Virginia, 
and at once sailed for the colony. His ship, 
however, was captured by a French privateer 
and taken to France, in which country Hunter 
was detained prisoner for several months. He 
was exchanged for the Bishop of Quebec, and 
returned to London about the time of the 
Palatine sojourn in that city, and was appointed 
to succeed Lovelace in the government of New 
York. It is said that he owed this appoint- 
ment to his friend Addison, at that time Under 
Secretary of State, which may be in a measure 
true. If so, we may take it as a proof that 
favoritism can at times make the most judicious 
choice, for there is small doubt that the honor 
and duty of the position could have found no 
worthier or better-fitted shoulders on which to 
rest. Nor can there be much doubt that, had 
Gov. Hunter been properly supported by the 
home government, and had its pledges to him 



The Experiment 113 

been fulfilled, his administration of the Province 
would have been singularly notable for success. 
With the Governor's office the rank of Briga- 
dier General was also conferred upon Hunter, 
who at once set himself to consider and con- 
sult about the affairs of his new government, 
prominent among which was the disposition of 
the Palatines. For it was evidently settled in 
the mind of the Lords of Trade that New York 
must be the destination of a large number of 
that people, and one may easily suppose that 
this thought had large place in the selection 
of Hunter for the government of that Province, 
on the ground of his well-known capacity. 
As the result of his study upon the question, 
he made a proposition to the Lords of Trade, 
under date of 30 Nov. 1 709,* that three thou- 
sand of the Palatines be sent with him to New 
York, to be employed there in the production 
of Naval Stores ; but he does not suggest in 
this note any particular location in the Province. 
Some special details are entered into, as that 
four persons should be sent out to instruct 
the people in the proposed manufacture, and 
that he should have leave to employ such clerks 

* Col, Hist., v., 112. 



114 The Palatines 

and other agents as should be needed ; and 
that utensils, tents, fire-locks, hemp-seed, and 
other necessaries should be provided. On the 
next day he addressed another letter to the 
Board suggesting that it was well to 

" consider whether it be advisable that they [the Pala- 
tines] be servants to the Crown for a certain term, or at 
least 'till they have repaid the expense the Crown is at 
in settling them at work and subsisting them whilst they 
cannot subsist themselves ; and afterwards the lands they 
possess be granted them in fee, with the reservation of 
a reasonable Quit-Rent to the Crown." 

These suggestions of Hunter bear fruit in 
a few days in a report by the Board of Trade 
to the Queen. In this they note that New 
York is the "most advanced frontier," as 
against the French and hostile Indians, and 
that the Palatines, if properly located, might 
add greatly to the defence of the province. 
As to the place of their settlement, the Board 
proposes the region of "the Mohaques and 
Hudson's Rivers, where are great numbers 
of Pines fit for the production of Turpentine 
and Tarr, out of which Rozin and Pitch are 
made." They specially indicate "a Tract of 
land lying on Mohaques River, fifty miles by 



The Experiment 115 

four, and a Tract lying upon a Creek [undoubt- 
edly the Schoharie] which runs into said River, 
between twenty-four and thirty miles in length, 
of which your Majesty has possession." This 
possession by the Queen is not here attributed 
to the gift of the Indian chief, but to "the 
vacating of several extravagant grants." * But 
it may not be contended that such description 
disproves the story of a gift, which had so 
taken possession of the Palatine mind. On 
the contrary, it might be argued that the 
Indian offer furnished the reason for select- 
ing that locality. 

The report goes on to advise that the Gov- 
ernor be " empowered to settle them on these 
or other lands, in a Boddy, or in separate 
settlements, as most fit." Each family should 
receive forty acres, "after they shall have 
repaid the government." They should be 
prohibited from engaging in " the manufac- 
ture of Woollen." After their houses are built 

*This vacating was enacted in 1698 by the provincial legislature 
and was afterwards approved by the Queen. It voided several 
enormous patents given by Col. Fletcher, while he was Governor of 
New York. Among these was one to a certain Col. Nicholas 
Bayard, which conveyed the entire valley of Schoharie. We shall 
meet this Bayard again in connection with the Palatine fortunes. 



ii6 The Palatines 

and the ground cleared, they should "be em- 
ployed in the making of Turpentine, Rozin, 
Tarr, and Pitch." And the premium to en- 
courage the importation of Naval Stores should 
be given " to the Factor or Agent, to and 
for the sole Benefit of such Palatines, who were, 
the Manufacturers of such stores." * Finally 
they should be naturalized and "made deni- 
zens of this Kingdom." This report with its 
advice was approved by the Queen, and steps 
were at once taken to put the scheme into 
execution. 

In the arrangements made, a new element 
appears, not found or suggested in the previ- 
ous shipments of the Palatines from London. 
With the colonies sent to Ireland, North 
Carolina, and Virginia the government made 
no contract for service. The people were 
simply recipients. There was, indeed, a con- 
tract in regard to the North Carolina colony, 
but the parties in contract with the govern- 
ment were the Swiss partners, who were bound 
to great care and kindness in their treatment 
of the emigrants. With regard to the colony 

* This premium was, some years before, offered by the govern- 
ment to incite the colonists to such manufacture. 



The Experiment 117 

to go out with Hunter the course of govern- 
ment was different. The first measure towards 
setting his scheme on foot was the making of 
a contract, not with Hunter or the provincial 
authorities, but with the Palatines themselves. 
It is plain from that agreement that the gov- 
ernment had an eye, no longer solely to the 
benefit of these people, but to its own profit 
and advantage. Nor could such purpose be 
condemned, the hardships to the Palatines 
proceeding not from the then intention of the 
government, but from its subsequent failure 
to fulfil its own part of the contract ; and 
also from the fact that the whole transaction 
was foredoomed to failure, because involving 
the presumption that Naval Stores could be 
produced in places where the natural conditions 
forbade. By this contract the Palatines bound 
themselves to become, as Hunter suggested, 
" Servants to the Crown." The government 
was to transport them to America and subsist 
them there ; they were to " settle in such 
place as should be allotted to them " ; were to 
engage in making Naval Stores, all of which 
they should suffer to be put into her Majesty's 
storehouses ; they were not to attempt the 



ii8 The Palatines 

making of any woollen goods ; nor to quit the 
settlement without the permission of the gov- 
enor. After they had by their labor repaid 
the government for the expenses undertaken 
for them, they should receive ^5 and forty 
acres of land for each family.* 

We may fitly note in this place that the 
production of Naval Stores in some portion of 
the Queen's dominions was looked upon by 
the government as among the most desirable 
and necessitous of things. Already had Eng- 
land made great advance towards the complete 
mastery of the sea, fulfilling more and more, 
in almost each succeeding reign, the promise 
of Frobisher and Drake. Her merchant ships 
traversed all ocean paths, and her floating 
fortresses declared her powers in the most dis- 
tant seas. To her Admiralty it was a constant 
burden, that for so many of the materials es- 
sential to the making of ships, England had to 
depend on other nations. Her tar and pitch, 
and many of her masts and spars, she was 
forced to buy from Norway, Sweden, and 
Russia ; while most of the hemp for her cord- 

* Col. Hist., v., 117-121. 
Doc. Hist., iii., 382 et seq. 



The Experiment 119 

age was grown on continental fields. The 
expense was a heavy tax upon her exchequer, 
and the necessity of buying in a foreign mar- 
ket was as heavy a burden to her pride. 
Hence, as her new empire in America came 
to be explored and to disclose something of 
its vast resources, one of the chief objects of 
search, and a most frequent subject of remark, 
was the promise of Naval Stores from the for- 
ests of the New World. On this the attention 
of the Lords of Trade and the government is 
frequently engaged, and diligence to further 
this "most noble and laudable work " is urged 
upon the colonial authorities with much and 
frequent emphasis. In the despatches the 
words, Naval Stores, are usually dignified with 
capital initials, expressive of the important 
nature of the subject. 

Many years before the period of the Pala- 
tine Immigration the Board of Trade and Co- 
lonial governors corresponded in regard to it. 
Lord Bellomont, in 1699 {Col. Hist., iv., 501), 
writes in lengthened discussion of the feasi- 
bility of producing tar and pitch in his Province 
of New York. He is enthusiastic over the 
certainty of inexhaustible quantities of tar in 



I20 The Palatines 

the New York forests, and of success in the 
enterprise, if it is attempted in the right way. 
He goes into detailed calculations as to 
methods, cost, and amount of expected returns, 
and advises the employment of soldiers in the 
manufacture. 

The instructions to Lord Lovelace * — 20 
July, 1708 — urge upon him 

" to prevent any impediment to this good work, and to 
take care that in all new patents for land there be inserted 
a clause restraining the grantees from Burning the 
Woods to clear the land, under Penalty of forfeiting 
their Patent. Likewise a clause making a Particular 
Reservation to us. Our Heirs and Successors, of all 
Trees of the diameter of 24 inches and upward, at 12 
inches from the ground, for Masts for Our Royal Navy, 
as also of such other Trees as may be fit to make planks, 
Knees, etc., for the use of our said Navy." 

At a later date Lovelace is directed to use his 
influence with the colonists towards inducing 
them to undertake the manufacture of tar and 
pitch, and other naval stores ; and to offer a 
premium to all persons who shall send such 
stores to England. 

With the desire for such returns from the 
colonies thus strong in the governmental mind, 

* Col. Hist., v., 55. 



The Experiment 121 

we can understand the ardor with which the 
Lords of Trade seized upon the proposition of 
Gov. Hunter. For some reason the colonists 
had not been moved to the manufacture of the 
desired stores, nor had the offered premium 
been able to attract them from their fisheries 
and farms. But now the whole matter lies in 
the hand of the government. Here in London 
is this great company of Palatines, seeking 
asylum and occupation. There in the colonies 
were vast forests of pine, whose shapely stems 
and resinous gums waited only for the wood- 
man's axe and the tar-bucket. On the banks 
of Hudson's and Mohaques rivers were mil- 
lions of noble trees, any one of which was fit 

" To be the mast 
Of some great ammiral." 

How fortunate the conjunction of circum- 
stances, which, while the great pines of America 
waited to be felled, brought to England these 
fugitives crying for support ! How fine the 
opportunity by which the Admiralty can at 
last realize its long-cherished, but hitherto dis- 
appointed, dream ! The workers must be 
brought to the work. It is interesting and 



122 The Palatines 

amusing to note the ardor and enthusiasm with 
which the authorities adopted the scheme of 
Hunter, and with what glowing- anticipations 
of assured success they discounted the future. 
In the Report, in which the Board commends 
Hunter's proposition to the Queen, they 

"take leave to observe that one man may make by his 
own labor 6 tunns of these Stores in a year, and we have 
been informed that a number of men, assisting each 
other, may in proportion make double tliat quantity, so 
that, supposing 600 men to be employed in this v/ork, 
they may produce 7000 tunns of these goods a year : and, 
if in time a greater quantity of these Stores should be 
made there than shall be consumed in your Majesty's 
Dominions, we hope the overplus may turn to a very 
beneficial trade with Spain and Portugal." 

There seems to have been no doubt in the 
mind of the Lords of Trade that the pines of 
the Hudson and the Mohawk would furnish all 
the tar and pitch that England could forever 
need. The thought was shared by the officials 
in this country. Thus Hunter, a year after- 
wards, writes from New York,* — " This great 
and useful design of providing England for- 
ever hereafter with Naval Stores cannot fail 
other ways than by being let fall at home. — 

*Col. Hist., v., 171. 



The Experiment 123 

Here is enough for all England forever." 
And Du Pre, the Commissary, writes,* 

" I am confident that it cannot fail of good success, and 
nothing else than the want of support at home can pre- 
vent it. There are Tar and pitch enough for supplying, 
not only the Royal, but even the whole, Navy of Eng- 
land : and it will give such a life to the Trade of this 
Country as may very much contribute to encourage the 
Woollen Manufactory at Home, and discourage of it in 
the Plantations, by making the returns from this so far 
exceed the import, that it will make this Port [New 
York] the emporium of the Continent of America." 

There is, indeed, no doubt that New York 
has become such emporium; but despite the 
efforts and prophecies of the Lords of Trade 
and their subordinates, its achievement of 
that position cannot be set down to the pro- 
duction of Naval Stores. One other glow- 
ing prediction is worthy of place here. It is 
from the pen of John Bridger, the Instructor 
of the Palatines in tar-making, who writes to 
the Board of Trade, f " There is enough for 
all Britain and this Government [New York], 
with the others on this Continent — and it will 
be capable of making Great Britain the mart 
of all Europe for Naval Stores." 

* Col. Hist., v., 172. Doc. Hist., iii., 390. f Col. Hist., v., 174. 



124 The Palatines 

Hence the instructions of the Queen to 
Hunter, on the eve of starting for New York, 
lay great stress upon this scheme, which at the 
time of his setting forth was regarded by the 
Home government as the most important duty 
of his commission, and which, for several years 
after the London authorities had ceased to 
interest themselves in it, still retained its hold 
upon the opinion and desire of the Governor. 
The royal orders recite,* 

" We being informed that our Province of New York 
do's abound with vast numbers of Pine Trees proper for 
the production of Pitch and Tar — [and] Masts for our 
First-rate ships of War, and Oaks and other Trees fit for 
beams, knees, planks, and otlier uses of our Navy Royal 
— you are to apply your utmost care and diligence 
towards the promoting of so necessary a Work." 

There is an uncertainty as to the precise 
date of Hunter's departure from England with 
the Palatines. Luttrell, on 29 Dec, 1709, 
writes, " Collonel Hunter designs, next week 
to embark for his government at New York, 
and most of the Palatines remainingf here sfoe 
with him to people that colony." Weiser's 
reminiscences relate, " About Christmas-day 

* Col. Hist., v., 141. 



The Experiment 125 

(1709) we embarked, and ten ship loads with 
about four thousand souls were sent to Amer- 
ica." As Weiser was but a boy of twelve at 
the time, there might easily have been some 
confusion, as to the exact date, in his later 
years, as there was in regard to numbers. 
The royal instructions to the new Governor 
bear date of 20th January, 17 10, and presum- 
ably were committed to him in London. 

Towards the end of January, then, we 
may suppose this largest of immigrations to 
America in the colonial era to have left the 
shores of England. The people were in ten 
ships, which made an unusual and imposing 
fleet. The number of the Palatines embarked 
must be set much below the figures given by 
Weiser. In reality there were about three 
thousand of them. Discrepancies exist in the 
various statements upon this point, and no 
official record of the number actually embarked 
has been preserved. But their number was 
large enough to crowd the small ships of that 
day almost to suffocation, and, pitiful as the 
tale is, it brings no surprise to learn that nearly 
one sixth of the whole number perished by the 
way. The voyage was longer than usual by 



126 The Palatines 

reason of heavy storms and contrary winds. 
From near the end of January until after the 
beginning of June, and for some until into 
July, the weary people were battling their slow 
way across the Atlantic. The crowded quar- 
ters, the foul air and insufficient food, made 
them the easy prey of disease, so that every day 
witnessed the consigrnment of their dead into 
the sea. The mortality was terrible and must 
have covered the fleet as with the shadow of 
death. Hunter writes from New York on 
i6th June, 1710, "I arrived here two days 
ago. We want still three of the Palatine 
ships, and those arrived are in deplorable 
sickly condition." 

The ships were separated by the weather, 
and the first to arrive at New York, anticipat- 
ing the vessel which carried the Governor, was 
the ship Lyon, loaded with Palatines. The 
authorities of the town were alarmed by the 
unhealthful condition of the emigrants, among 
whom, it was reported, were " many contagious 
diseases " (cases). It was decided to keep 
them out of the city and to land them on Nut- 
ten (now Governor's) Island, and to build huts 
for them. The full tale of the ships was not 



The Experiment 127 

made out until near the end of July, when 
Hunter writes that 

" All the Palatine ships, separated by the weather, are 
since arrived, except the Herbert Frigate. She was cast 
away on the East end of Long Island, on the 7th July. 
The men are safe, but our goods are much damaged. 
The poor people are mighty sickly, but recover apace. 
We have lost above 470 of our number." * 

This loss of the Herbert is undoubtedly the 
historical incident, which gave rise to the legend 
of the Palatine Ship and Light. The legend 
is localized on Block, or Manisees, Island, 
rather than Long Island, but such transfer- 
rence is easy to legendary lore : and, indeed, it 
is not impossible that, despite the Governor's 
statement, the ship may have gone ashore on 
the former island. The legend by a curious 
heterophemy gives the name of the people to 
the ship, which becomes in the story, not the 
frigate Herberty but the ship Palatine, supposed 
to be a merchantman laden with goodly cargo. 
The tradition represents that the vessel was 
decoyed ashore by false beacons, and then 
rifled and burned by the islanders, who steadied 
themselves for their crime by saying to each 

* Col. Hist,, v., 166. 



128 The Palatines 

other that " dead men tell no tales." But the 
spirits of the lost ship and crew do not suffer 
the wreckers to rest without a frequent re- 
minder of their villainy.* 

" A light is at times seen from the island 
upon the surface of the ocean, which in its form 
has suororested to the imao^ination a resemblance 
to a burning ship under full sail ; and it is called 
the Palatine Light and Palatine Ship." 

Hunter says that "the men were saved." 
He may have meant by this the English sail- 
ors, while some of the Palatines were lost. 
This is suggested by the fact that to this day 
are shown on the west shore of Block Island 
some almost obliterated graves, said to be of 
lost seamen of the ship Palatine. 

Whittier has set the legend in his exquisite 
poem, " The Palatine," in which he also gives 
the name of the people to their ship : 

" Into the teeth of death she sped : 
(May God forgive the hands that fed 
The false lights over the rocky Head !) 

But the year went round, and when once more, 
Along their foam-white curves of shore. 
They heard the line storm rave and roar, 
Tenn. Mag. of Hist., xi., 243. 



The Experiment 129 

Behold ! again with shimmer and shine, 
Over the rocks and the seething brine, 
The flaming wreck of the Palatine ! 



For still, on many a moonless night, 

From Kingston Head and from Montauk light. 

The spectre kindles and burns in sight. 

Now low and dim, now clear and higher. 
Leaps up the terrible Ghost of Fire, 
Then, slowly sinking, the flames expire. 

And the wise Sound skippers, though skies be fine. 
Reef their sails when they see the sign 
Of the blazing wreck of the Palatine ! " 

As the several ships of the fleet came Into 
port, the Palatines were all landed upon Nut- 
ten Island, at first for the purposes of quaran- 
tine, and afterwards for convenience sake. 
Their numbers were quite sufficient for a com- 
munity by themselves, and altogether too large 
for the little city of New York to care for in 
its homes and inns. Proclamation was made 
to prevent extortion in the price of bread and 
other provisions. The Attorney-General was 
instructed to devise a plan for the government 
of the Palatines, and commissions as Justices of 

the Peace were issued to some of their own 

9 



130 The Palatines 

number "to hear small causes," such as might 
arise among themselves. 

The chief one of these Justices, and the 
most prominent and influential man in the 
entire company, was John Conrad Weiser. 
He was the father of the Conrad Weiser to 
whom reference has been made, and was him- 
self the son of a magistrate of Great Anspach, 
a town in the Duchy of Wurtemburg. He 
was educated, followed for a while the voca- 
tion of a baker, and in his turn rose to the 
magistracy of the town. He married Anna 
Magdalena Uebele, whose character was such 
as to impress her son Conrad with a profound 
and life-long reverence. She died in 1709, 
while giving birth to her sixteenth child. Her 
death was the crowning affliction for her hus- 
band. Personal and domestic sorrow was 
added to national calamities, and by stress of 
it he was led to join the emigrating thousands, 
bringing with him all of his children save two 
daughters, who had married. 

It is possible, as noted in the last chapter, that 
Kockerthal was with this large company. If so, 
Weiser shared in his counsels and exercised an 
equal influence upon the people. It is probable 



The Experiment 131 

also that, on arrival at New York, Kockerthal 
went to his parish and glebe at Quassaick, leav- 
ing Weiser easily the chief among his people. 
Many complaints were afterwards made about 
Weiser by the authorities and others inter- 
ested in oppressing the Palatines. He is 
called, "rascal," "villain," "riotous," "ring- 
leader of all mischief " ; and at one time a 
warrant was issued for his arrest on a charge 
of sedition. But the truth was, that those 
actions, which earned such epithets and atten- 
tion, were due to the oppressions under which 
the Palatines were made to suffer. Weiser's 
bold, free spirit refused to submit to the semi- 
slavery in which the authorities proposed to 
hold the people, and he chose such means of 
resistance as lay ready to his hand. He was 
seditious only as every revolutionary patriot 
was seditious. 

The sojourn of the people on Nutten 
Island continued through five months, while 
the Governor was examining and prospecting 
after the most promising spot for their per- 
manent establishment. There is an added 
proof, that the tale of the Indian gift of 
Schoharie was at least partially true, in the 



132 The Palatines 

fact that* Hunter, very soon after arrival, 
despatched the Surveyor-General of the prov- 
ince "to survey the land on the Mohaques 
River, particularly the Skohare, to v/hich the 
Indians have no pretence." Certainly, it is 
significant that this should have been the 
first spot looked at ; and no great pressure 
is needed upon the words, ** have no pre- 
tence," to see in them a recognition of the 
fact, that the Indians by their gift had sur- 
rendered all title to those lands. 

While waiting the return and report of the 
Surveyor, the Governor issued an order for 
apprenticing children of the Palatines, which 
may be set down as the first of the oppressive 
actions of the government towards those peo- 
ple. Hitherto, it would seem that all the 
measures of the authorities in regard to them 
had been under the law of kindness. Beyond 
question the treatment dealt to them in Eng- 
land was munificent, and no objection could 
lie against the contract of service, supposing 
it to be faithfully and fairly executed. Nor 
could the sufferings and mortality of the 
voyage be chargeable to the authorities. 

'■^' Col. Hist., v., 167. 



The Experiment 133 

They were more truly due to the stormy seas 
which protracted the voyage to nearly double 
the usual length of time. But there was 
something in this apprenticing of the children 
which the Palatines seemed to have regarded 
as peculiarly oppressive. In their statement 
of grievances, made some years later, they 
recite with much pathos, " He took away our 
children from us without and ao;ainst our con- 
sent." But the probabilities are that the 
Governor was helpless in the matter. Many 
of the children were orphans, one or both 
of the parents having died upon the ocean. 
These the authorities could not keep depend- 
ent on public support, nor could their poor 
fellow-countrymen provide for them. The 
only thing possible was to put them to service 
or trades, and thus in homes, where they 
would be cared for and would learn to support 
themselves. It is possible that some of the 
children were taken from parents unwilling 
to let them go, but of this we have no proof 
beyond the statement just quoted, the force 
of which is qualified by the presumption that, 
in the complaint against the government every 
available aro-ument and item would be used. 

o 



134 The Palatines 

Not improbably the action of the Governor 
was with an arbitrary and imperious manner, 
but it does not appear that anything else could 
have been done under the circumstances.* 
There is preserved in the colonial documents 
a list of some of these apprenticed children, 
possibly all of them, eighty-four in number, 
giving their names and ages, and the names 
and residences of their masters. In the list 
some things may be noted with interest, as 
that two sons, George and Frederick, of John 
Conrad Weiser were among those bound out. 
Also that Robert Livingston of the Manor 
had indentured to him no less than seven of 
the children. We observe also that the places 
of residence of the masters are widely scat- 
tered, from Albany to Long Island, from 
Rhode Island to New Jersey. These dis- 
tances, of course, meant at that time much 
more of separation than they would to-day. 
With many of these children the distance 
effected life-long separation from, and ignor- 
ance of, their kindred. Conrad Weiser said 
in later years that, when his brothers v/ere 
apprenticed, they were lost to the family 

■^Doc. Hist., iii., 341. Sec Note II. 



The Experiment 135 

forever, and he knew not what had become 
of them. 

But the chief note of interest in this Hst is 
found in a certain lad, thirteen years of age, 
John Peter Zenger by name, whose father had 
died at sea, and who was apprenticed to one 
WilHam Bradford, a printer of New York. 
The name of this lad it behoves every lover of 
American liberty to remember, and no apology 
is needed to arrest the current of our imme- 
diate story in order to tell in few words what 
he did for the country of his adoption.* 

After Zenger had grown to manhood, there 
arose a fierce quarrel between Governor Cosby 
and the Council on the question of salary, 
which was ever a mooted question between 
the Royal Governors and the Provincial legis- 
lature in New York, and often employed by 
the latter for the malicious harassment of the 
Governor. On this occasion the quarrel waxed 
so strong that the Governor carried it into the 
court for a mandamus requiring the concession 
of his claim. The court, supposed to be 
biassed by reason of the fact that the Chief- 
Justice, De Lancey, and Justice Philipse sat 

* Booth's Hist, of N'ew York, p. 329 et seq. 



136 The Palatines 

upon the bench by the Governor's appoint- 
ment and at his pleasure, decided against the 
Council, and issued the mandamus. At this 
decision the whole city was roused, and the 
popular indignation found voice at the hand 
of Zenger. His former employer, Bradford, 
published the Nezv York Gazette, which es- 
poused the Governor's cause ; and in opposition 
thereto, Zenger, who had gone into business 
as a printer for himself, and was also the Col- 
lector of Taxes, started a newspaper, the New 
York Weekly Journal, which was first issued 
on the 5th of Nov. 1733, and at once assailed 
the Governor. It abounded in "caustic arti- 
cles satirizing the Court. All colonial griev- 
ances were taken up and fearlessly discussed." 
The authorship of the articles was attributed 
to William Smith and James Alexander, advo- 
cates, who through government influence had 
been defeated as candidates for the Council. 
The government was highly incensed by the 
Journal, and ordered four numbers of it to be 
publicly burned by the hangman, in the pres- 
ence of the Mayor and city magistrates. But 
the city courts refused to receive the order 
and forbade its execution by the hangman ; 



The Experiment 137 

and the only way in which the order was 
carried out was by a negro slave of the Sheriff, 
in the absence of the magistrates. This could 
not satisfy the government, which promptly 
arrested Zenger and threw him into prison, 
denying to him pen, ink, and paper. Being 
brought up on habeas co7^_pus, the court de- 
manded so excessive bail, that he had to re- 
turn to prison, where he continued to edit his 
paper, whispering his instructions to his em- 
ployees through the chinks in the door. The 
Grand Jury refused to indict him, but the 
Attorney-General filed an Information for 
Seditious Libel against him, and he was ar- 
raigned for trial by the court he had satirized. 
His council were Smith and Alexander, who 
began by excepting to the commissions of 
the Chief-Justice and Justice Philipse, because 
they ran "during pleasure." This objection 
so enraged the court that the advocates were 
at once disbarred, and the case adjourned. 
There was no other advocate in the city who 
dared to appear for Zenger, whose friends sent 
to Philadelphia, and secured the services of 
the celebrated Andrew Hamilton, long at the 
head of the Pennsylvania bar and without a 



13S The Palatines 

superior in all the colonies. At this time he 
was eighty years old, but still in full vigor of 
both mind and body. Without impugning in 
any way the character or integrity of the Court, 
Hamilton's plea was a triumphant defence of 
his client and "the first vindication of the li- 
berty of the Press in America." " The verdict 
of acquittal will stand as the first trumpet of 
American Independence." 

The main items of the story — the attack of 
the government on the press and the triumph- 
ant vindication of its rights and liberty by 
the great lawyer and patriot — are well known 
to most Americans. Not so many know that 
the first blows in the struggle — so pregnant for 
the future of American freedom and citizen- 
ship — were struck by the hand of a Palatine. 
The story of his countrymen, coming hither 
in their poverty and distress, has been often 
slighted and disesteemed, and yet it cannot be 
properly told without the tale of Zenger's bold- 
ness, tenacity and love of right, wherefrom 
thus early came into American institutions one 
of their greatest blessino-s and bulwarks. To 
ofet established that for which he fought were 
worth all the expense, suffering, and labor of 



The Experiment 139 

the Immigration. It may be said, indeed, that 
Zenger himself can hardly be credited with any 
deep consciousness as to the principle involved, 
or with any far-reaching plan to define and con- 
serve the rights of humanity. This doubtless 
is true ; but the same is true also of the vast 
majority of men who have risen against wrong 
and oppression, and by their work have laid 
the generations under tribute. They have 
simply known where the yoke galled them, and 
have striven to throw it off. Few leaders of 
men are like Sam. Adams, who was almost 
unique in his foresight of the end from the be- 
ginning. To most it falls only to give occa- 
sion by their resolute fearlessness for the advent 
of a blessing, of the full form of which they 
have small conception. So it is that to have 
given occasion for the establishment of a Free 
Press is an imperishable honor to be set down 
to the credit of Zenger, and to be noted as 
among the benefits ministered to America by 
the children of the Palatines. 

We return again to the company on Nutten 
Island, whose settlement in a permanent home 
was giving the Governor no little trouble. The 
report of the Surveyor, or the attractiveness 



HO The Palatines 

of some other place, dislodged from his mind 
the idea of placing them at Schoharie. He 
writes, " It is no wise fit for the design in hand. 
There is good lands, but no pine." At a later 
period he admits that pine may be found in 
that region. Du Pre, who went to London in 
the Governor's interest, alleged that the Mo- 
hawk had a " fall of six hundred feet," so that 
the transportation of the tar and pitch to tide- 
water would be very difficult. By this " fall," 
of course, he did not mean a cataract, but the 
descent of the stream from the confluence of 
the Schoharie to the Hudson. The exaggera- 
tion may have been made in ignorance and 
from oruess-work. The actual descent is not 
much above two hundred feet. After the fail- 
ure on the Hudson, and the departure of many 
of the people to the Schoharie — both to be yet 
narrated — the Governor suororests that those 
who had gone thither " might be employed in 
the vast phie forests near Albany." 

It is probable that the great distance of Scho- 
harie from New York had about as much influ- 
ence as any other consideration on his mind. 
He is confident that he " will be able to carry 
it on elsewhere. There is no want of Pine, but 



The Experiment 141 

the Pine land being good for nothing, the diffi- 
culty will ly in finding such a situation as will 
afford good land for their settlements near the 
Pine lands." Then he says, " I am in terms 
with some who have lands on Hudson's River 
fitt for that purpose." Presently, on October 
3d, he reports a purchase of land, and on No- 
vember 14th writes, " I have just returned from 
settling the Palatines on Hudson's River," and 
describes the location as a tract of six thousand 
acres which he had bought from Robert Livino-- 
ston, for " 400 pds. this country money = ^266 
English, adjacent to the Pines." Also, as this 
tract was not large enough for settling and em- 
ploying all the people, he had placed some of 
them on a tract "over against it," on the west 
side of the river, "near Sawyer's Creek," on 
lands " a mile in length " and having about 
eight hundred acres, " belonging to the Queen." 
The Governor writes of the two settlements - 

'* Each family hath a sufficient lot of good arrable land, 
and ships of fifteen foot draught of Water can sail up as 
far as their Plantations. They have already built them- 
selves comfortable huts and are now imployed in clearing 
the ground. In the Spring I shall set them to work in 
preparing the trees." 



142 The Palatines 

Here again he gives voice to his confidence in 
this unfaiHnof source of naval stores, 

" I myself have seen Pitch Pine enough upon 
the river to serve all Europe with Tarn" 

The people were settled by the Governor 
in five villages, three of them on the east side 
of the river. The number of villages was 
shortly increased to seven, and their names 
appear as Hunterstown, Queensbury, Anns- 
bury, and Haysbury, on the east side, while 
Elizabeth Town, Georgetown, and New Vil- 
lage were situated on the opposite side of 
the river. Of these names not one remains. 
They had vogue but for a very few years. 
Germantown embraced afterwards all the vil- 
lages on the east side of the river, while those 
upon the west were all lost in the town of 
Saugerties. The two names of locality in use 
among the Palatines, which have survived 
until now, are East Camp and West Camp, 
though the former only lives in local speech. 
West Camp is still a distinct village, and ap- 
pears on every good map of Ulster County. 
In addition to these names, very soon after 
the settlement at West Camp, another name, 
still surviving, though not appearing in the 



The Experiment 143 

official records, Kaatsbaan, was affixed to a 
locality about two miles to the westward. 
The old stone church, built there on a rocky 
knoll in 1732, has bequeathed to its successor 
of the present day its rear wall, a yet stand- 
ing witness to the settlement and piety of the 
Palatines. Besides this, another name, Rhine- 
beck, on the east side of the river, owes its 
origin to Palatines who, after the explosion at 
East Camp, looked a little southward for their 
homes. This the name of the town implies, 
while in families still surviving in the town 
names appearing on the lists of the immigra- 
tion are represented to this day. 

The settlements on the east side were within 
the domain of the famous Manor of Livine- 
ston, which, by various acquisitions at sundry 
times, by purchase from the Indians, and by 
royal grants, had become baronial in its pro- 
portions. It measured sixteen miles on the 
river-bank, and stretched eastward twenty-four 
miles to the Massachusetts line, including the 
territory now forming the seven townships 
of Livingston, Copake, Taghkanic, Ancram, 
Gallatin, Clermont, and Germantown. The 
first patent covering the most of this domain 



144 The Palatines 

was issued to Livingston in 1686 by Governor 
Dongan, and in 1714 Hunter gave him a new 
patent, erecting the demesne into " one Lord- 
ship or Manor," and investing Livingston with 
baronial rights, " with power and authority to 
establish one Court Leete and one Court 
Baron," to try causes arising on the Manor 
and to impose fines and penalties.* Hunter's 
six thousand acres were mostly within the 
limits of the present Germantown — the name 
evidently a memorial of this first settlement — 
between the river and Roelof Jansen's Kill, 
a stream running northwesterly and emptying 
into the Hudson near the Manor-House. 
Here were settled about two thirds of the 
Palatines. 

It should be noted that, according to a list 
preserved on record, 339 of the refugees 
were domiciled in the city of New York. 
There were about one hundred more. The 
most of them were widows, single women, 
and children, unfit for the " great and good 
design " of making tar and pitch. In a few 
years they were able to build a Lutheran 
church. The structure was near Trinity 

'* Doc. Hist., iii., 416. 



The Experiment 145 

Church, and was destroyed by the great fire 
of 1776. On its site was afterwards erected 
the first building of Grace Parish.* This 
New York company seems to have suffered 
great mortahty in the first year, as in Septem- 
ber of 1 71 1 a petition from an undertaker in 
the city, praying payment for two hundred 
and fifty coffins suppHed to the Palatines, is 
presented to the Governor. Part of these 
must have been furnished while the great body 
of the immigrants was on Nutten Island. In 
any event, this item, together with the account 
of loss during the voyage, makes a somewhat 
terrible record. Within eighteen months fully 
one quarter of the entire number had died. 

It should be further noted that in the after 
experience of trouble and disaster, which came 
to the settlers up the Hudson, those on the 
Manor were almost solely involved. It does 
not appear that any serious effort was made 
towards the manufacture of naval stores on 
the west side of the river. Save when the 
summons was issued for volunteers to serve 
in the campaign of 1711 against Canada, the 
more fortunate settlers on this side were, for 

* Dunlap's New York, p. 270. 



146 The Palatines 

the most part, left free to build their homes 
and turn the forest into farms. Here they 
subdued the wilderness and founded families, 
many of which live to-day on the ancestral 
acres, a sturdy, diligent, thrifty, and God-fear- 
ing community. 

It is on the East Camp that our attention 
must be fixed, and on the effort to turn the 
forests of the Hudson into the navy of Eng- 
land. It was a great experiment, well worthy 
of attempt under right conditions. Its success 
would beyond doubt have ministered im- 
mensely to the advantage of the government. 
But it was fore-doomed to disastrous failure. 
By a very strange obliquity, the scheme, which 
had for so many years engaged the attention 
of the Home government and the Lords of 
Trade, which had enlisted the enthusiasm and 
diligence of Governor after Governor, which 
had provided so engrossing a topic for corres- 
pondence and calculation, and for its initiation 
had cost the government so large an outlay of 
money, was no sooner set on foot than the 
London authorities lost all interest in it and, 
without waiting for any demonstration of suc- 
cess or failure, refused to have anything more 



The Experiment 



147 



to do with the undertaking. Hunter seems to 
have been the only one, whose continuance of 
regard for the attempt bore any proper relation 
to the zeal of its beginning. As we shall see, 
to him it brought increasing annoyance and 
embarrassment, a ruined fortune and reputa- 
tion and a broken heart ; while to the poor 
Palatines it occasioned severe suffering, cruel 
oppression, mutiny, and flight. 




CHAPTER V. 



THE FAILURE. 



THE three villages in the East Camp con- 
tained about twelve hundred people ; 
men, women, and children, among 
whom the number of able-bodied men must 
have been not large. They constituted a 
small force with which to carry on " the good 
and useful design," supposing that success 
therein was among the possibilities. As the 
result proved, there were quite enough of them 
to demonstrate the futility of the attempt. 
The work could not begin at once. The sea- 
son of their establishment on the Manor was 
well advanced into the late fall, no work on 
the trees was possible at that time of year, and 
the first labors of the people had to be directed 
towards housinof themselves for the winter. 
During that winter, if we are to receive the 

148 




THE 
PALATINE 
SETTLEMENTS 

OF THE 
HUDSON, MOHA WH 
AND SCHOHAFKIE 



The Failure 149 

statements of the Palatines themselves, they 
suffered greatly from the severity of the cold 
and the insufficient supply of clothing from the 
government. They complained also bitterly 
that the supply of food furnished to them was 
short of their need and of poor quality. 
These statements should, perhaps, be taken 
with some grains of allowance, as the unfamil- 
iar surroundings and the immediate prospect of 
unrequited and compulsory toil may have very 
soon moved the people to discontent. In 
their extemporized huts, shivering with the 
unwonted cold, they had leisure to contrast 
their situation and outlook with the good their 
fancy had painted, and in pursuit of which they 
had come hopefully over the sea, bearing with- 
out murmur the sufferings and sorrows of the 
voyage. They dwelt in thought on the lands 
of the Schoharie, which, they said, " the Queen 
had given them " ; and considered that any 
action was oppressive which hindered entrance 
into that possession. They looked upon their 
detention on the Manor as a virtual bondage, 
and their obligation to work under the orders 
of the authorities as little short of slavery. 
This feeling was undoubtedly intensified by the 



I50 The Palatines 

treatment received from the Governor's agents, 
who carried themselves as masters among 
serfs, an attitude and disposition not easily 
tolerable by men who had resisted oppression 
and tyranny in the Old World, and for the 
sake of freedom had come to the new. The 
discontent found early expression. The snows 
had hardly disappeared and the people been 
able to begin the work upon the trees, when 
Mr. Cast, one of the commissioners over the 
Palatines, wrote to Governor Hunter, March 
171 1 : 

" The people contemplate their present settlement for 
a couple of years, I asked Mr. Kockerthal how his peo- 
ple behave. He tells me all are at Avork and busy, but 
manifestly with repugnance and merely temporarily ; that 
the tract intended for them is in their mind a land of 
Canaan. It is a dangerous time to settle (in Schoharie), 
and they are willing to have patience for two years. 
But they will not hear of tar-making." 

Mr. Cast's next letter, a few days later, sug- 
gests that he had had some trouble with the 
people, by telling of a better mind in them at 
that writing. * He writes to Hunter, who 
seems to have made a visit to allay the trouble, 
that the people were behaving 

* Col. Hist., v., 212. 



The Failure 151 

" as well as could be desired. Those of Queensbury, 
previously the most perverse, came to tell me they would 
take the remainder of their share of the Salt-Beef, and 
had got the people to submit to the overseer. A great 
many from all the villages came to receive the tools, and 
all without exception evinced a modesty, civility and 
respect, which surprized as much as it delighted me. 
Nothing more is heard about moving elsewhere." 

In another letter, written a few days later, 
he recognizes that the discontent is not entirely 
dissipated, and relates bits of a conversation 
overheard by him between five Palatines sit- 
ting around a fire, who all 

" agreed that the settlement at the Manor was a good 
plan (for the present). But they wanted more land. 
One counseled submission. Another said, ' We came to 
America to establish our families, and to secure lands 
for our children, on which they may be able to support 
themselves after we die. This we cannot do here.' 
One advised patience and hope. Another replied, ' Pa- 
tience and Hope make fools of those who fill their bellies 
with them.' At this they all laughed and changed the 
conversation." 

In several of the letters of Cast, Hunter 
and Secretary Clarke the statement is made 
that the discontent of the Palatines was due 
to malicious mischief-makers in the neighbor- 



152 The Palatines 

hoocL The last named wrote to the Lords of 
Trade : 

" It 's hardly credible that men, who reap so great a 
benefit by these people, should be so malicious as to 
possess them with notions so injurious to themselves and 
prejudicial to her Majesty's interest ; and yet it is so. 
Great pains have been taken to magnify the goodness of 
that (land) at Schohary above this." 

Little credit, however, can be given to this 
complaint. At the least, it is disingenuous. 
At that time that district was almost uninhab- 
ited and could furnish but few agents of dis- 
order to this people, who needed no other 
influences than their own destitute condition 
and their defeated hopes. 

The allusion in Cast's letter to the danger 
in settling Schoharie, was because of the im- 
mediate prospect of renewed hostilities with 
the French. The Schoharie valley was be- 
yond the English settlements and, if occupied, 
would become the " most advanced frontier of 
the Province." While prudence required delay 
in going to that land of promise, there is not- 
able evidence that fear and cowardice had little 
to do with that decision. The military returns 
of enlistment for the war from the Palatine 



The Failure 153 

villaofes show a remarkable readiness and de- 
votion. From the three villages on the east 
side of the river went three companies, of one 
of which John Conrad Weiser was captain. 
The force of the three companies was one 
hundred and five men, fully one third of all 
the able-bodied men in the settlement. We 
need not follow their fortunes in the war. 
They were bloodless and involved little more 
than marching up to Albany and back again, 
the whole campaign of that year being a com- 
plete fiasco. But this large proportional en- 
listment of the Palatines proves the quality of 
the people, whom the authorities were endeav- 
oring to subject to a state of vassalage, as yer\' 
far above that low and squalid nature which 
some comments seem to intimate. They seem 
in this respect, whatever may have been the 
issue of the tar experiment, to have more 
than justified one of the hopes of the Lords 
of Trade, who coupled with their scheme for 
naval stores that of so planting the Palatines, 
that they should be "a barrier against the 
French and Indians and a defence to the 
Province." In the Hudson valley they nobly 
showed their manly spirit, and aftenvards on 



154 The Palatines 

the Mohawk did yeoman's service in protect- 
ing the Hberties of their new country. 

On the return of the volunteers the work 
among the trees, in preparing them for the 
production of tar, began again ; and with it 
was again heard the voice of Palatine discon- 
tent, to which was added another item of com- 
plaint : that while the volunteers went willingly 
to the war, "leaving their wives and little 
children bare of necessities," they were not 
paid for their military services. It is not at 
all unlikely that the authorities regarded that 
service, tho not in the contract, yet as con- 
suming its time, fully paid for by the past ex- 
pense of government on the Palatine account. 
So early as in May the murmur among the 
people had reached such proportions, that the 
commissioners sent to New York for the Gov- 
ernor to come up to the Manor, when he found 
on arrival a state of things not far removed 
from mutiny. On inquiry of the people them- 
selves, they told the Governor, that the lands 
allotted to them on the Manor were good for 
nothing, and demanded that he send them to 
" Scorie,* to the lands given to the Queen for 

* Doc. Hist., iii, 396, 423. 



The Failure 155 

them." " They would rather lose their lives 
than remain where they are. They had been 
cheated by the contract, which was not the 
same as that read to them in England. A great 
many things promised them they had not re- 
ceived. The true contract they were willing 
to perform, but to be forced by another con- 
tract to remain on these lands all their lives, 
and work for her Majesty for the ships' use, 
that they will never do." The Governor ar- 
gued with them, and showed them the diffi- 
culties of settlement at Schoharie, that "they 
would be compelled on that frontier to labor 
as the Israelites did of old, with a sword in 
one hand and an ax in the other." 

With this the Governor pacified them for the 
moment, and, thinking quiet to be restored, 
set out on his return to New York ; but before 
he reached the city, he was overtaken by a 
messenger with the tidings that the mutiny 
had broken out afresh. Whereupon he turned 
back towards the Manor in no very amiable 
frame of mind. An order was at once de- 
spatched to Albany for Colonel Nicholson and 
a company of British soldiers ; and the Gov- 
ernor, getting the heads of the people together, 



15^ The Palatines 

rated them soundly for their breach of con- 
tract, and demanded " how they dared to 
disobey him." He had "the contract read in 
High Dutch, and then asked, Would they 
fulfil it ? that he might know what he should 
do." At first, the people, cowed by the de- 
termined attitude of Hunter, replied that they 
would fulfil the contract. But by the next 
morning they had gathered courage and 
changed their mind, and told the Governor 
that they wished to go to Schoharie. Again 
there was more argument and more threat 
from the Governor, who dismissed the chiefs 
of the people, with the order to think over 
the matter and consult with their people, and 
to give him a final answer on the morrow. By 
the morrow the soldiers had arrived upon the 
scene, and Hunter felt confident of subduing 
the outbreak. Summoning the Palatine chiefs, 
he demanded their final reply, and they an- 
swered with the same demand, " Scorie. They 
would have the lands appointed for them by 
the Queen." On this Hunter altogether lost 
his patience. He in a passion stamped upon 
the ground and said,* " Here is your land 

* Doc, Hist., iii., 424. 



The Failure 157 

(meaning the almost barren Rocks) where you 
must live and die." 

Meanwhile, as the " Deputies" were confer- 
ring- with the Governor, the people took alarm 
from his evident anger and the presence of the 
soldiers. Some of the volunteers, who had 
been permitted to retain their arms, gathered 
and took their station not far removed from 
the Governor's quarters. They alleged that 
this movement was only for the protection of 
their chiefs, whom they supposed to be in dan- 
ger, but the Governor was so incensed that he 
deployed the troops, and under threat of their 
fire disarmed the Palatines. This broke the 
spirit of the malcontents, who saw that further 
resistance was impossible. Forced to submit, 
they dispersed to their several villages, to wait 
until deliverance should come to them by an- 
other way. 

Meanwhile they took up their task and 
wrought at it, if not contentedly, at least 
steadily, through the following summer, but 
now and then allowing some murmurs of dis- 
content to escape them ; while the Governor 
and the agents congratulated themselves on 
the progress made, and the glowing promise 



158 The Palatines 

of success " in this good and useful design." 
There is no need for our following the course 
of this work, now not far from a total and ig- 
nominious failure ; but two quotations from 
the correspondence of the summer may shov/ 
the highest point reached towards success. 
Thus Sec'y Clarke wrote to the Board of 
Trade in June :* 

" The Palatines are now demonstrating sincere repent- 
ance. They are at work on the Trees, of which they 
prepare fifteen thousand a day. The children are busy 
in gathering up Knots, which will be burnt this year, and 
I doubt not a considerabe quantity of Tar made of them. 

. . . The people work with all the cheerfulness 
imaginable." 

In September Hunter wrote : 

" The tumults raised among them by the ill arts of 
such as had a mind to crush the design, have had a quite 
contrary effect, for since that time and a new modell off 
management, they have been very busy and obedient. 
I have now prepared near a hundred thousand trees, and 
in the fall will sett them to work on the second prepara- 
tion. That noe hands may be idle, wee imployed the 
Boys and Girls in gathering knotts, out of which he 

* Col. Hist., v., 250. 

f This refers to the putting Richard Sackett as Instructor in the 
place of Bridger. 



The Failure 159 

(Sackett) has made about 3 score barralls of good Tarr, 
and hath kills ready to sett on fire for as much more, so 
soon as he gets casks ready to receive it." 

A curious and sharp comment on this last 
statement occurs in the reply of the Lords of 
Trade, who say : " We desire you to inform 
us how and out of what Funds those Casks are 
provided." To which the Governor answered 
that he had taken that cost out of the funds 
for the subsistence of the Palatines ! In an- 
other letter Hunter intimated that other ne- 
cessities, such as the salaries of the agents, had 
been provided for out of that same subsistence 
fund, and one can easily conceive that the 
complaints of the Palatines as to quantity and 
quality of their food had abundant justifica- 
tion. 

Towards the end of the fall it became evi- 
dent that the Palatines had nearly reached the 
limit of their patience, and hints are frequent 
that the agents are meeting with increasing 
trouble. By an order of Hunter a court was 
established, " to regulate and govern the Pala- 
tines." The court had seven members, of 
whom were Livingston, Sackett, Cast, and "the 
Officer commanding the troops at the Living- 



i6o The Palatines 

ston Manor." Evidently the people were of 
such refractory spirit that the constant presence 
of soldiers was necessary. In the following 
spring Hunter ordered from Albany to the 
Manor an additional force of " a Lieutenant 
and thirty men." The coopers "are to be 
kept to their work by as many soldiers as 
needed." The court was to make the people 
understand that, " by her Majesty's orders and 
their own contract they are obliged to follow 
the manufacturing of Naval Stores." It was 
empowered to " punish by confinement or cor- 
poral punishment, not extending to life or 
mutilation ; and to take cognizance of all 
Misdemeanors, Disobedience, or other Wilful 
Transgression." * The List-Masters — of whom 
Weiser was one — were to give to Sackett lists 
of such men as were fit for any proposed work, 
of whom Sackett " shall send for as many as 
he please, and if they refuse they shall be pun- 
ished." The court should meet "once a week, 
or oftener, for punishing the delinquents. If 
any of the people are negligent or Lazy," Mr. 
Sackett is to "punish in such manner as he 
shall judge fit." There would seem to be 

* Doc. Hist., iii., 401, 406. 



The Failure i6i 

small room for doubt that the Palatines were 
held to a semi-slavery. However the terms of 
the contract and the obligations incurred 
through the outlay of the government could 
rightly require the performance of the stipu- 
lated work, the harsh, imperious, and cruel 
proceedings of the authorities go far to justify 
the Palatines in repudiating their share of obli- 
gation. A more faithful and kinder discharge 
of the governmental obligations would have 
met a much more docile mind. As it was, the 
people considered themselves as cheated in 
every way ; neither money nor land promised 
had been given ; the food was not sufficient 
or good ; the clothing too scanty for comfort 
or decency, while their superiors were to them 
as hard taskmasters, whose rule was cruel and 
oppressive. There is no room for wonder 
that they were in a chronic state of revolt. 

In such condition they entered upon their 
second winter on the Manor, and in the cessa- 
tion of their work upon the trees had plenty 
of leisure to suffer, reflect and conspire."^ In 
the " Statement of Grievances," laid by them 
before the King in 1720, they describe this 

* Doc. Hist., iii,, 423. 



1 62 The Palatines 

winter in harrowing terms and language almost 
grotesque. It was, 

** very severe, and no provision to be had, and the 
people bare of Clothes, which occasioned a terrible 
Consternation among them, and particularly from the 
women and Children the most pitifuU and dolerous 
Cryes and lamentations that have perhaps ever been 
heard from any persons under the most wretched and 
miserable Circumstances, so that they were at last, much 
against their wills, put under the hard and greeting 
necessity of seeking relief from the Indians." 

This statement of relief from the Indians 
alludes to a deputation sent to the Indians of 
Schoharie, which did not go on its mission 
until the following autumn, and of which more 
will be mentioned hereafter. It is probable 
that the resolution to send such deputation 
was made in the consultations of this winter 
of hardship, and waited a convenient season 
for putting it into execution. It is evident 
that in these months they came to the decision 
to endure the miseries of their situation and 
the service, which they felt to be a bondage, 
no longer than necessity compelled. Thus 
they came into the spring with a determina- 
tion to resist and break away so soon as pos- 



The Failure i6 



v5 



sible. The agents had a sorry time with 
them through the following months. In April, 
1 71 2, some of them deserted the Manor and 
crossed the river, seeking a refuge among the 
Dutch and their countrymen on the west side. 
Undoubtedly to check such desertion, the 
Justices of Kingston* — probably in response 
to a demand of Hunter or Sackett — ordered 
the constables " to take back to the Palatine 
villages any of the Palatines who have left 
and settled in sundry villages." The authori- 
ties were not minded that the Manor settle- 
ments should be diminished, or any of the 
Palatines should slip from underneath their 
hands. There is another curious token of 
this intention later in the year — made more 
curious by its accompanying the practical 
abandonment of the enterprise. The Gov- 
ernor, in writing to the commissioners at the 
Manor that the work must be suspended 
because of lack of funds, and giving permis- 
sion to the Palatines to leave the Manor in 
search of occupation, forbids their going out 
of the New York and New Jersey provinces. 
" If any do, measures shall be taken for their 

* Doc. Hist. , iii. , 404. 



164 The Palatines 

rendition and punishment as deserters." Each 
man leaving the Manor must obtain a Ticket 
of Leave for a named place, a record of which 
shall be kept, "so that if he abandon that 
place he may be brought back and punished." 
If any depart without a ticket, "apply to the 
next Justice of the Peace for a Hue and Cry, 
in order to pursue and bring him back, and 
place him in confinement." * 

The opening spring of 171 2 found the 
Palatines quite ready for any scheme which 
would thwart the oppressive plans of the Gov- 
ernor. Not many notes are preserved, but 
what little has been put on permanent record 
shows that the difficulties of the undertaking 
were increasing. Money to carry it on was 
lacking, and the spirit of the people was be- 
coming more and more obstructive. Sackett 
builds a bridge over the Kill, " for the con- 
veyance of Tar to the River side, and the 
people say it will rot before it is put to that 

use."t 

The Governor's description of the situation 
is very suggestive. J 

*Doc. Hist., iii., 410. \ Doc. Hist, iii., 403. 

X Col. Hist., v., 301. 



The Failure 165 

" I employed," he wrote in January, 17 12, " three hun- 
dred in the land forces. On return I disarmed them. They 
are planted where they are covered every way, and whilst 
they are armed they are ungovernable. What from the 
instigation of ill neighbors, and what from the natural 
turbulence of their temper, I find it hard to keep the 
generality of them to their duty and contract without 
force." 

He claims that, despite such untoward circum- 
stances, "the work is in great forwardness." 

Later in the year he wrote with more hope- 
fulness to the Lords of Trade : " Their work 
comes fully up to expectation. ... I hear 
no complaints of late. The people work cheer- 
fully since they understood that they should 
have one half of the profits of the manufac- 
ture." This arrangement was evidently a 
change in contract, introduced by Hunter him- 
self to persuade the recalcitrant people. If such 
co-operative feature had been in the original 
contract, it is likely that more docility and 
more success would have marked the experi- 
ment. 

In May the commissioners despatched a 
note to Colonel Ingoldsby, " Att the fort att 
Albany," in which they said, " finding that 
there is no good to be done with these peo- 



1 66 The Palatines 

pie, who will obey no orders without compul- 
sion, we desire your Hon' to despatch s'' 
Detachment as soon as possible." Evidently, 
so far as the temper of the Palatines was con- 
cerned, the situation was becoming impossible 
of continuance. 

Supplies were failing on account of lacking 
funds, and Livingston, who had the contract 
for furnishing bread and beer to the people, 
finds difficulty in carrying it on. There is a 
curious note of his to Lawrence Smith in 
New York, in which he complains of the diffi- 
culty in "supplying flower to the Palatines," 
and also insists upon his own advantage in 
not wanting any paper money, but hard silver. 
" Send it by first opportunity, els am quite 
untwisted." * 

The contract was taken by Livingston from 
the date of the Palatines' arrival at the 
Manor. It demanded " for each person each 
day a quantity of Bread equal to -^ of a loaf 
commonly at price of 4^d. in New York, and 
one quart of Beer, such as is usually called 
Ship's Beer, of the price of £2, for each Tun- 
All." The bill rendered by Livingston for 

* Doc. Hist., iii., 391. 



The Failure 167 

the first four months of such supply was 

;f5 703-1 3-6. 

As the summer of 1 71 2 brought depletion of 
funds the Governor sought to economize, and 
wrote to Livingston that he should supply 
"beer only for the men that work and not for 
their families. I believe there are a great many 
widows and Orphans among the people. I wish 
I could know how many, that they might be 
turned to some use, or be no longer a burden." '^ 
The tone of this note and the somewhat cruel 
suggestion at its close that, unless the widows 
and orphans could be "turned to some use," they 
must be turned adrift, make strong exhibit of 
the sore financial straits into which Hunter and 
his enterprise had come. In fact the financial 
difficulties began before the first winter at the 
Manor was over, and through the next year 
and a half the Governor was put to all man- 
ner of hazardous measures to provide for the 
prosecution of the work. By the end of that 
period he came to the end of all his resources 
both for patience and money. In September 
of 1 712 he wrote to Cast : 

" I have exhausted all the money and credit I was 
*I6id,, p. 409. 



1 68 The Palatines 

master of for the support of the Palatines, and embar- 
rassed with difficulties which I know not how to 
surmount, if my bills of exchange be not paid. ... I 
have no desire that the people quit their establish- 
ments, now that the work has arrived at such a point of 
perfection." * 

Then he proposed "this expedient," that Cast 
should call the people together, and tell them 
the state of affairs, and that they must shift 
for themselves. Those who can support them- 
selves on the Manor should remain there. 
As to the others, " I wish they would accept 
any employment from farmers and others in 
this Province or New Jersey, until recalled by 
Proclamation or other notice. The contract 
is still binding and they must return on call." 
Then, after defining the police regulations al- 
ready quoted, the Governor proceeds : 

" I hope to have advices between this and spring of 
the payment of my bills of exchange, which will again 
enable me to support the whole of them. They must 
therefore not calculate on being dispersed for any greater 
length of time, . . . You see the necessity to which I 
am reduced. It causes me much uneasiness, because I 
am convinced that the work can not fail, were the peo- 
ple on the spot to prosecute it. I have the testimony of 
a good conscience in having done all that depended on 
* Doc. Hist., iii., 410. 



The Failure 169 

me for their support and prosecuting the work for which 
they were destined." 

This was the end of the experiment, a fail- 
ure total and in some respects disgraceful. 
The Palatines so understood it, and more than 
half of them set out on their journey to " the 
promised land of Scorie," as will presently be 
detailed. To the Governor this large migra- 
tion was both a grief and a displeasure. He 
wrote again to Cast : 

" Do your best to retain as many as possible of these 
poor people within their duty, and I shall distinguish 
them from the rest by all the grants of land in my power. 
As to the others, I only pray God to turn away the Ven- 
geance, which menaces them, and which they have richly 
deserved. Distribute as soon as possible whatever you 
have among the sick and indigent." 

Inasmuch as the only Vengeance which men- 
aced them was of the Governor's own inven- 
tion, it does not appear that he need ask the 
Lord to turn it away. 

In fact, the departure of this large company 
from the Manor seems to have rufHed and 
exasperated the Governor more than any other 
incident of the enterprise, and his after-con- 
duct towards the Schoharie settlers was char- 



I70 The Palatines 

acterized by a vindictlveness altogether without 
excuse. It is the only part of his relations to 
the Palatines in which his conduct challenges 
decided reproach. It was also unlike himself, 
as we understand his nature, and Is only to be 
explained by the intensity of his sense of dis- 
appointment on the failure of the "good and 
useful design," which he had proposed to the 
Board of Trade and had undertaken with ar- 
dor. In which he had sunk his entire fortune 
and had taken on himself debts that he could 
never meet. Undoubtedly the Governor felt, 
under the circumstances, that his honor was 
specially Involved, not only with regard to 
financial obligations, but also as affected his 
reputation as a man of affairs and as governor 
of a province. He wrote, while the work was 
yet In progress, that from It he derived his sole 
pleasure from his office ; and from the success 
of the experiment he evidently counted on 
reaping both distinction and wealth. When 
the disastrous failure ensued he felt that. In 
place of becoming the object of great honor 
as the man who had conferred sla^nal blessinsfs 
on the Navy of England, he had rather be- 
come the butt for ridicule ; and. Instead of re- 



The Failure 171 

couping himself for his unv^ise advances — 
unwise as too blindly trusting in the good 
faith of the Home government — he had rather 
plunged himself into a pit of irretrievable 
bankruptcy. One can have sympathy for a 
person in such circumstances, but at the same 
time condemn his persecution of the Palatines, 
whom he seems to have regarded as the sole 
cause of the great failure. 

The true cause of this failure should be 
noted before following the Palatines who 
sought the Schoharie. Among them is to be 
placed the fact that the whole scheme was 
based on a mistake as to material. It was 
too easily taken for granted that the pines of 
the Hudson could be made to produce tar 
and pitch in such quantities as to bring re- 
munerative returns for the pecuniary outlay. 
This was a mistake and fatal to the enterprise. 
Had there been no other obstruction, had the 
Palatines been completely docile and unmur- 
muring, had the English Treasury taken up 
all of Hunter's bills and furnished all the 
funds needed, still three or four years would 
have demonstrated that the work could not 
be prosecuted at a profit. The only recorded 



172 The Palatines 

return of the manufacture is of the "three 
score barrells of good Tar," which Hunter 
reports as made from the pine knots gathered 
by the children, concerning which we can be 
somewhat sceptical as to the quality of the 
product. Beyond this all the return is in 
promises and prophecies. Much stress is 
frequently and justly laid on the necessity 
for two years' "preparation of the trees," 
before the tar and pitch can be produced. 
This preparation is a peculiar process, by 
cutting and barking, through which the sap 
of the pine is concentrated. Then, after the 
proper length of time, the tree is felled and 
the wood burned in a kiln, in which the resin- 
ous gums flow out and the fibre is changed 
to charcoal. Up to the time of the break- 
down the work had not gotten beyond the 
period of preparation, so that, except for the 
small amount of tar derived from burning the 
knots — which in all varities of pine have more 
or less of resin ready to hand, as one may 
say — there had as yet been no means of 
exhibiting the finished product. Hunter could 
write honestly, " the tar work was brought 
to all the perfection possible in the time." 



The Failure 173 

There is in connection with this statement 
an amusing reply of Hunter to sundry critical 
"friends in England," who wished to "see 
some of the tar," and who, he says, "must 
take your Lordships' and my word for it." * 

But neither their Lordships' nor Hunter's 
word could make tar and pitch in paying quan- 
tities from trees that did not produce them. 
The great tar-bearing tree of this continent is 
the Pinus australis, which is not found north 
of the southern borders of Virginia. Thence 
southward to the Gulf and within 150 miles 
of the coast it abounds in great forests, and is 
familiarly known as the Georgia Pine. So far 
as the Palatine immigration was concerned 
with the production of tar, if the North Caro- 
lina colony had been set to such work, the gov- 
ernment might have looked for profitable \ 
returns. But the Hudson valley could not 
answer. The most common of the northern 
pines is the Pinus Strobus, — the ordinary white 
pine — much of which has almost no resin 
whatever, while none of it is rich enough in 
gum to make its burning an object. Besides 
this variety is the less common Pinus rigida, 

* Col, Hist., v., 347. 



174 The Palatines 

tho frequently found from Maine to Georgia. 
This tree is quite resinous, but does not grow 
to such size or occur in so large masses as to 
justify in any one spot so large expense as was 
involved in this attempt at tar-making by the 
Palatines. There was, indeed, during the 
Colonial period — and may be down to this 
time — no little tar made in New England from 
the Pinus rigida.* Williamson says, " Pitch 
and tar were made and exported in great quan- 
tities." But these " great quantities " must be 
understood as the aggregate of these products, 
made in small quantities and separate parts of 
the country, and constituting for the woodsman 
or farmer an avocation in the midst of his reg- 
ular pursuits. This tree could not furnish 
the base for an extensive " plant " in any one 
place. 

It seems somewhat strange that these facts 
were not sufficiently well known to prevent 
the undertaking. And yet the very fact 
of getting any tar at all from the northern 
pines might easily suggest to inexperience the 
thought, that much more would be produced 
by the larger number of people employed. 

* Hist, of Maine, ii., 95. 



The Failure 175 

Then, too, it is Hkely that neither Hunter nor 
the Lords of Trade knew any marked dis- 
tinctions among the pines. In their minds, a 
pine was a tar-bearing tree, and that was 
about all they knew in regard to the matter. 
It is also reasonably certain that, after his 
arrival in America, the Governor was misled by 
the man, John Bridger, whom he put into the 
place of Instructor to the Palatines."^ This 
Bridger had been commissioned, some fifteen 
years before, by the Board of Admiralty to ex- 
amine into the capacity of the American colo- 
nies for the production of naval stores — to 
survey the woods, and discover the forests 
most productive of material for masts, spars, 
tar and pitch. He went first to Barbadoes, 
and thence with Lord Bellomont to New York, 
in 1698. He was sent into New England to 
instruct its people in the process of tar-making ; 
and on Hunter's coming with the Palatines 
was recalled to New York. He went with that 
people to the Manor, gave some instructions 
in the manufacture, began the "preparing " of 
some trees, and then returned to New England. 
In the following season Hunter wrote for him 

* Col. Hist., v., 175, note. 



176 The Palatines 

to resume his work among the Palatines. But 
Bridger refused to return, alleging various ex- 
cuses to the Governor. He did not, however, 
tell him — what was probably his real reason — 
that the attempt being made on the Manor 
was hopeless from the start. It is probable 
that he early discovered the mistake made in 
that project, and so hastened to absent himself, 
either not wishing or not daring to enlighten 
the Governor as to the true state of facts. 
His refusal to return was the occasion of great 
anger on the part of Hunter, who lost very few 
opportunities for speaking of him in very dis- 
paraging words. " Ignorant, incompetent, un- 
worthy, disobedient," are the best words which 
Sec'y Clarke can apply to him, while Hunter 
writes of his "wickedness and baseness," and 
with a fine scorn describes " his last letters, 
which denote a greater attention to his private 
profit than to the Publick Service." Bridger 
remained in New England, and was by the 
Massachusetts government made Surveyor- 
General of the Woods. In 1 7 1 8 he was accused 
before the General Court of oppression and 
corruption, the charges being that he forbade 
the people felling trees fit for masts on their 



The Failure 177 

own lands, and then accepted bribes for per- 
mission so to do. On his trial he had the 
powerful protection of Governor Shute, and 
escaped conviction. The quarrel caused by 
the proceeding was very great, producing 
" difficulties which disturbed the province for 
a series of years," and in consequence of 
which, " at last the Governor was forced to 
leave the province." * 

Had this mistake not been made, however, 
and had all the conditions, save the financial, 
justly promised a good success, the utter fail- 
ure of monetary support was enough to wreck 
the enterprise. And for this, while reasons 
are plenty, there can be found no justification. 
In fact, the celerity with which the English 
government forgot all its engagements with 
Hunter, so soon as he and his Palatines were 
out of sight, and the nonchalance with which 
the Ministry treated their own pledges and 
Hunter's appeals, make a very curious record. 
The action of the EnorHsh authorities was 
nothing less than a most unprincipled breach 

* Williamson's Hist, of Alaine, ii., 94. 
Barry's Hist, of Mass., ii., 109. 
Hutchinson's Mass. Bay, ii, , 222. 



i;^ The Palatines 

of faith, and a shameful abandonment of a 
worthy servant of the crown, who was faith- 
fully endeavoring to carry out the instructions 
and orders of the government. Great as was 
his blunder in supposing that tar and pitcli 
could be profitably made in the valley of the 
Hudson, he made a greater mistake in taking 
for granted that the Home government was 
composed of honest men. 

The governmental advance of ;^8ooo, with 
which in hand he left England, was the last 
monetary outlay by the government on the 
Palatine account. But this amount was soon 
exhausted in subsisting the large body of that 
people on Nutten Island. Before their re- 
moval to the two Camps every penny was ex- 
pended, and the Governor was compelled to 
use his personal fortune and credit towards 
their support. After having settled them up 
the river, he wrote to the Board of Trade : 

" I hope your Lordships will think yourselves con- 
cerned to take care that what Bills I shall draw for their 
future subsistence, be duly comply'd with, lest by their 
failing the whole design prove abortive. ... I am directed 
to subsist them at 6d. for all adult persons and 4d. for 
young persons, /^r day. . . . I compute that ^15000 a 



The Failure 179 

year for two successive years will be sufficient to defray 
the expense." * 

This, it would appear, included not only the 
cost of subsistence, but also that of offices, 
salaries and all contingent expenses. 

As a matter of course, when the money ad- 
vanced was expended, the Governor, in reliance 
on the good faith of his superiors, made ar- 
rangement by bills of exchange for the imme- 
diate necessities. He also spent in this service 
his own entire fortune, confidently expecting 
reimbursement from home. Thus, with his 
own money he bought the land from Living- 
ston, and from the same source drew money 
for the people's support, and from that time to 
the end of the experiment all the money spent 
in the work was of his providing, either from 
his own purse, or from loans for the payment of 
which he made himself responsible. His bills 
of exchange on London came back dishonored. 
The British Treasury would have none of 
them, and, so far as any record shows, never 
repaid to Hunter a single penny of the enor- 
mous sums advanced by him for the support 
of the enterprise. The Governor's appeals 

* Col. Hist., v., 180. 



i8o The Palatines 

for relief are frequent in the correspondence, 
and many of them are quite pathetic. Thus, 
he wrote in the spring of 1712, expressing his 

" uneasiness, having heard nothing from your Lordships 
since last summer, neither have advice of the payment of 
any of my bills on account of the Palatines, but go on 
with the work as though I had, having (as your Lord- 
ships well know) her Majesty's commands to that effect." 

Some months later he wrote to Sec'y Popple, 
of the Board of Trade : 

*' Inform me whether they (the Treasury) have any 
inclination to apply the proper remedy, that I may take 
my measures accordingly, for I would shun, if possible, 
the danger of being a prisoner for life." Then again, 
" What I have done in that matter was by Her Majesty's 
special order and instructions, which shall ever be sacred 
to me." Again, " My credit — is exhausted, none of my 
bills of any kind being paid at home, and I myself re- 
duced to very hard shifts for bare subsistence." 

In one letter is a touch of bitter humor, refer- 
ring to the affairs of 

" the Palatines (asking your Lordships' pardon for men- 
tioning them). . . . My Lords, I have done my 
best in my station and apprehend no scrutiny on earth. 
God, who knows my heart, will acquit me elsewhere. I 
have served faithfully, suffered patiently, and shall re- 
sign cheerfully whenever it shall be her Majesty's 



The Failure i8i 

pleasure." ** I stand indebted upon that score more than 
I shall ever be able to pay in my life, without her 
Majesty's gracious assistance. . . who suffers, if he 
must suffer, for having strictly observed and executed 
her Majesty's orders." "I have beg'd for one half of 
what is due on the Palatine accounts. I am sure that 
no man has suffered more than I have done." 

He reports the amount due to him as over 
;^20,ooo, while the Province owed him, for 
arrears of salary, ^5000, and says, " My Gov- 
ernment [2>., office as Governor] protects me 
from arrest, but, whilst that remains over my 
head, I can dream of nothing but starving in 
a gaol and seeing my innocent infants perish 
for want before my eyes." * 

These quotations are made almost at ran- 
dom from the Governor's letters, and describe 
in sufficiently graphic language the evil case 
into which he had fallen, and one very effi- 
cient cause of the failure. In justice to the 
Lords of Trade it should be stated that their 
good offices were not lacking to the effort to 
secure justice for Hunter, but they were met 
by stubborn resistance at the Treasury and in 
Parliament. They write, 25th February, 1718. 
"You will be sure to receive all the assistance 

* Col. Hist., v., 305, 351, 353, 358, 366, 380, 452. 



1 82 The Palatines 

we can give you. It has not been possible to 
do anything in that matter, this session of 
Parliament." 

Hunter's enemies in England used this op- 
portunity to his great disadvantage. Not only 
did they succeed in obstructing the payment 
of his bills, but also insinuated that he was un- 
truthful in his representations about the work. 
That he was mistaken in judgment is clear 
enough, but there is nothing in the whole 
transaction to show a lack of integrity on the 
Governor's part. On one occasion he grows 
furious over these insinuations and writes to 
Sec'y Popple : 

" I have ordered Mr. Sackett and one of the Commis- 
sioners to go immediately to the woods, fell some of the 
prepared Trees and bring them down hither — I mean the 
loggs where the turpentine has settled — and I '11 have 
them burnt in the sight of the world, or exposed to 
view, that I may not be imposed upon or be thought to 
impose upon others." 

Writing to Lord Stair in October, of 1715, 
he recites the story of his efforts with the pro- 
ject, and describes " the recommendation of the 
Lords of Trade for imploying 3000 Palatines 
[as] turned into instructions by her Majesty's 



The Failure 183 

letter, under her signet and sign manual," and 
avers that he had used such economy as to 
have saved ^1500 a year out of the subsist- 
ence fund, to pay salaries and other expenses. 
" There is due to me upwards of ;/^20,ooo. 

. . Meanwhile I was left to beg my 
daily bread from a hard hearted Assembly 
here." Truly the poor Governor had an 
abundance of trouble, — and the most of it un- 
deserved. It is reasonably certain that his 
motives were pure. No attack can be made 
on his integrity. Weiser, in speaking of the 
settlement of the people on the Manor, says 
that Hunter and Livingston delayed the con- 
summation of the Queen's intention until land 
should come under their control, and " artfully 
and wickedly changed the course and destiny 
of the unsuspecting colony." This, so far as 
Hunter's purpose was concerned, may be set 
down to the not unnatural misjudgment to 
which the difficulties at the Manor would give 
rise in the mind of a Palatine. 

Aside from the disastrous failure of the 
** great design to make tar for the Royal 
Navy," the administration of Hunter was 
with great honor and success. He took the 



1 84 The Palatines 

government in an ill time. The quarrels sub- 
sequent to the Leisler incident were still rife 
and bitter. Not only the politics, but the 
social life of New York, were rent by sharp 
factional fights. Both parties vied in the 
effort to win the special favor of the Gov- 
ernor, and Hunter's predecessors had erred in 
yielding to such persuasions. He refused to 
be drawn into the partisan strife, or to show 
preference for either party. By such prudent 
course, while "he found the province in a low 
condition, he left it peaceful and prosperous. 
Party spirit had been subdued and factions 
were reconciled. He did more to quiet the 
people than any, or all of his predecessors."* 

Notwithstanding this wise management of 
the Governor, he had a chronic trouble with 
the provincial Assembly, on the question of 
support both for himself and his administra- 
tion. Long before his time the colonies had 
learned impatience of dictation from England 
or the royal governors, and quarrels were con- 
stantly in progress over the matters of taxa- 
tion, impost and supply. Hunter's letters to 
London abound with statements of these 

* Schuyler's Colonial A^ew Yorky ii., 63. 



The Failure 185 

struggles, with here and there a flash of satire 
on the colonial disposition. He writes : 

" I acquainted them [the N. Y. Assembly] with your 
Lordships' representation to her Majesty that the Pala- 
tines should, upon arrival here, be naturalized without 
Fee or Reward, but they have declined it, for no reason 
that I can guess but that it was recommended to them, 
seeing they themselves were to be the chief gainers 
by it."* 

Sec'y Clarke describes this disposition of 
the Assembly in similar caustic words, " He 
[Hunter] has met with all the opposition and 
discouragement which a people devoid of duty 
and ripe with defection could give." In this 
letter of Clarke is a reference to " the Tar- 
work," which, in view of the issue of that enter- 
prise and of the Governor's annoyances from 
the Assembly, makes something of a demand 
upon the reader's sympathy. The language 
is : 

" It is almost the only satisfaction his Excellency has 
in this Province to see this great work goe on with that 
promising success it does. . . He has the pleasure 
of serving the best of Queens. That, therefore, and the 
hopes of bringing this great affair of Pitch and Tarr 
to perfection he must comfort himself with." 

* Col. Hist., v., 184, 250. 



1 86 The Palatines 

The Governor himself says, " It is some small 
comfort to me that I have brought the 
great undertaking to all the perfection that 
human power or industry could do in that 
time." 

The complete collapse of the scheme, bring- 
ing the ruin of this only comfort to the 
Governor, already harassed to distraction by 
the political turmoil of the province, moves us 
to a compassionate mood. His experience in 
America had indeed a sad issue. He strug- 
gled on through nine years full of disappoint- 
ment and burdens, to which in 1716 was added 
the death of his wife, a climax to his afflictions 
harder to bear than all the rest. In the year 
1 719 he obtained leave of absence and went 
to England, thinking that his personal pres- 
ence could do much in defence against his 
enemies at home and in obtaining justice for 
himself. It does not appear that the govern- 
ment ever repaid him. He did not return to 
New York, but resigned his office and retired 
to private life. His character cannot fail to 
command respect, for generosity and consci- 
entiousness. The not unnatural irritation of 
affairs, and especially the staggering blow of 



The Failure 187 

disappointment in the "great design of Tar," 
betrayed him into some actions not to be 
defended ; but for the most part he carried 
himself with admirable dignity and self-control. 
There is nothing finer in the Colonial History 
than his letter to Popple, written three years 
after the failure.^' He reviews the Palatine 
ventures and, maintaining that there was no 
mismanagement on his part, says : 

"About 13 Sep. 1712, I had certain advice that none 
of my bills would be paid, and then I stopt short, tho 
too late, . . All imaginable arts were used to stifle 
that project, I was sensible that I was struggling against 
a very rappid stream. But the interest of the Nation 
was so apparent, the reputation of those worthy Patriots 
who employed me was so much concerned, that I re- 
solved to run all hazards, rather than have reason to 
accuse myself of having omitted any one thing in my 
power to bring it to perfection," 

It was a great pity that "those worthy Patriots 
who employed" him were not equally careful 
for the reputation of their servant. 

The extent to which Hunter had involved 
himself was, especially for that day, enormous. 
No full accounts are accessible, if extant ; but 

* Col. Hist., V,, 447. 



1 88 The Palatines 

the bills presented by Livingston for subsist- 
ence are suggestive that the grand total of 
expense was very large. The contract of 
Livingston covered the period from the arrival 
of the Palatines at the Manor, in Nov., 1710, 
to the break-down in Sep., 1712. His bills, 
presented quarterly, amount to ^16,056-18-4 
There are, however, three quarters, the bills 
for which have not been preserved, but which 
it is impossible to suppose were not pre- 
sented. It is safe to add to the above amount 
;^ 1 0,000 for those three quarters. Besides 
these large items a smaller one of ;^366-i-ii^ 
represents his charges for " Salary " and 
storage of provisions ! Thus the whole sum 
paid to Livingston must have been over 
;/^26,ooo. In addition to this great sum the 
Governor had other expense for the Palatines, 
such as subsistence at New York, and trans- 
portation up the river — all of which he was 
compelled to meet at private cost, after the 
small advance from London had been ex- 
hausted. So it is evident that when he said 
that "upwards of ;f 20,000 " were due him, 
the real sum must have been largely in 
excess of that amount. 



The Failure 189 

This failure to support Hunter and this 
abandonment of the enterprise by the govern- 
ment were so remarkable, that the reader is 
made curious for the reasons of so atrocious 
bad faith. Fortunately, these reasons are not 
far to seek. There are two of them : one per- 
sonal and the other political. Strangely 
enough the personal reason found its object- 
ive, not in Governor Hunter, but in Robert 
Livingston, who had sold the land for the 
Palatine settlement and had taken the con- 
tract for the supply of bread and beer. The 
method, by which a personal dislike of Living- 
ston was able to reach so far as the ruin of a 
great enterprise and the bankruptcy of Gov- 
ernor Hunter, is somewhat curious. 

When the bills given by Hunter came to 
London they were promptly presented by the 
Board of Trade to the Treasury for payment. 
But the Lords of the Treasury, instead of 
honestly meeting an expense authorized by 
the government, delayed payment until fur- 
ther advisement. This advisement was sought 
by Lord Dartmouth of the Treasury from the 
Earl of Clarendon, to whom he sent the state- 
ments of Hunter, desiring the opinion of the 



iQo The Palatines 

Earl on the whole affair.* This resort to 
Clarendon was doubtless because, in his chrys- 
alis state of life as Lord Cornbury, he had 
been Governor of New York. It was sup- 
posed that he knew enough of the province 
and its forests to be able to advise. As it 
happened, he knew Livingston and did not 
love him, and was in no mood to approve any- 
thing which could issue to his advantage. Un- 
fortunately, his dislike punished the wrong 
victim, for Livingston got his money, and it 
was the poor Governor who suffered. The 
Earl replied to Dartmouth : 

" I think it very unhappy that Col. Hunter, on his 
first arrival, fell into so ill hands, for this Levinston has 
been known many years in the Province for a very ill 
man. He formerly victualled the forces at Albany, in 
which he was guilty of most notorious frauds. He has a 
Mill and Brewhouse upon his land, and, if he can get 
the victualling of the Palatines, he will make a very good 
addition to his estate." 

The Earl argues that Livingston's lands are 
not a good selection : 

" Hudson's River above Albany, and Mohawks River, 
Schenectady, are well known to be best." He objects 
* Col. Hist., v., 195. 



The Failure 191 

that " the Bills drawn are computed on the numbers who 
landed at New York, of whom many are dead " [forget- 
ful of the fact that these many had to be subsisted be- 
fore they died]. " I am of the opinion that if the 
subsistence proposed be allowed, Levinston and some 
others will get estates, the Palatines will not be the 
richer, but will be confirmed in that laziness they are 
already too prone to, and will persuade themselves that 
they can obtain two years' more subsistence after the 
first two are gone." 

He then goes on to ridicule the employment 
of the Palatines, and referring to the " Act for 
encouraging the importation of Naval Stores," 
says, "There was no fund provided for the 
payment of that reward, else that Act would 
have had a better effect than ten times the 
number of Palatines." So the Earl voided his 
hatred of Livingston in a letter sufficiently un- 
principled, willing to sacrifice all other inter- 
ests for the sake of thwarting that American 
baron. It had the effect intended in locking- 
fast the treasury against all the appeals of 
Hunter and the intercessions of the Board of 
Trade. 

The causes of Clarendon's bitterness against 
Livingston do not appear, nor is it easy at this 
late day to either justify or disprove his accus- 



192 The Palatines 

ations. Certainly, Livingston was one of the 
ablest men of his time in the colony, a most 
shrewd man of affairs and capable of a vast 
amount of work. To his discredit it must be 
conceded that all his energies were turned 
towards his own benefit and aggrandizement, 
though it is not clearly shown that he was 
ever guilty of open dishonesty.* Born in 1654 
in Ancram, Scotland, the son of a clergyman, 
he came to America when twenty years of age. 
He went to Albany, and in the following year 
was made Town Clerk and Secretary for In- 
dian Affairs. He held this office for fifty 
years. In 1683 he married Alida Schuyler, 
widow of Rev. Nicholas Van Renssalaer, and 
in 1686 laid the foundation of his enormous 
estate, by obtaining the Patent to the Manor 
from Governor Dongan. He was a prominent 
Jacobite in the Revolution of 1688, and was 
driven from the province by the Leisler party. 
On the downfall of Leisler he returned and 
was restored to his offices, to which were added 
those of Collector of Excise and Quit Rents, 
Clerk of the Peace and Clerk of the Court of 
Common Pleas. He became associated with 

♦ Doc, Hist,, iii,, 434 note. 



The Failure 193 

Bellomont and Captain Kidd, and thereby- 
added to his fortunes. In 1 701 the Leisler party 
returned to power in New York and called 
on Livingston to account for large sums of 
money, said to have passed through his hands, 
and on his failing to comply, he was deprived 
of his offices, and his estates were confiscated. 
He fled to England, but on the voyage was 
captured by the French and '* treated barbar- 
ously." At last released, he went to London 
and obtained from the Queen a restoration of 
his offices. He returned to New York in 1709, 
became a member of Assembly, and in 171 1 
secured a repeal of the act confiscating his es- 
tates. He secured a seat in the Assembly for 
his own Manor in 1716, and from 1718 to 1725 
served as Speaker of that body. In 1721 he 
resigned all his offices in Albany in favor of 
his son Philip, and in 1726 retired from the 
Assembly. Two years thereafter he died. 
Evidently he was a man of so unique a per- 
sonality and force, that these notes of his life 
are quite in place here. Dr. O'Callaghan 
sums up his story in these words : 

"A man of unquestionable shrewdness, perseverance, 

and large acquisitiveness. His main efforts, whether 
13 



194 The Palatines 

in or out of the legislature, seem to have been di- 
rected principally to securing for himself wealth, office, 
and special privileges ; and every opportunity was seized 
by him to get the government and the legislature to rec- 
ognize his Manor of Livingston." 

He seems to have been an " ill man " to be as- 
sociated with. None of the royal governors, 
save Hunter and Dongan, could get on with 
him. Those who had dealings with him were 
apt to find more or less of trouble, and even his 
friends spoke of him with a covert contempt. 
Bellomont * writes, in 1701, "I am told that 
Livingston has on his great grant of sixteen 
miles long and twenty-four broad, but four or 
five cottagers, men that live in vassalage under 
him, and are too poor to be farm.ers, having 
not wherewithal to buy Cattle to stock a farm." 
There was plainly something of a sting in the 
word " vassalage," as Bellomont designed it. 

At the time of Hunter's arrangement with 
him about the Palatines it was openly said 
that " he would cheat the Governor. But 
there appears no indication of such action in 
his accounts. They are made with much par- 
ticularity, such as a straightforward business 

*Col. Hist., iv., S22. 



The Failure 195 

man \YOuld render, methodically, neatly, accu- 
rately." * 

It is clear, however, that he had the best of 
the bargain and was the only man who received 
any benefit from the affair, of the Palatines. 
In 1 71 1, one of the agents at the Manor com- 
plained to the Governor of Livingston's grasp- 
ing disposition, saying that he wanted to get 
into his hands the entire control of supplies, 
intimating also that he was endeavoring to un- 
dermine the Governor himself by whispers in 
high quarters and unfriendly messages sent to 
England. This aroused Hunter's wrath. Writ- 
ing to General Nicholson, then in London, he 
speaks of Livingston's conduct as " base and 
villainous practice. . . . He is under many 
obligations to me, but I know him to be the 
most selfish man alive. If any man has any 
advantage by the Palatines being here, it is 
he."'!' By some means Livingston was able 
to appease the Governor's resentment, for we 
find them afterwards upon cordial terms. 
Whether Livingston was worthy, or not, of the 
condemnation of history, it is clear that the 

* Schuyler's Col. N. Y.,\., 78. 
f Doc. Hist., iii., 405. 



196 The Palatines 

personal hatred of Clarendon towards him was 
a powerful, if not the most powerful, cause of 
the ruin of the Palatine experiment. 

The other great cause of the failure obtain- 
ing in England was political. When Hunter 
and his Palatines left England the Whig ad- 
ministration, after a long lease of power, was 
already tottering, and before the expedition 
had reached America gave place to the Tories, 
who had no sympathy with the Palatines. In 
that age an incoming party did not have so 
much of conscience, as is supposed to exist to- 
day, about meeting the obligations incurred 
by its predecessors. Politcs was a fine game to 
play, however the country fared and whoever 
paid the piper. So, when these Tories came 
in, everything that the outgoing Whigs had 
done came up for review, criticism and, if pos- 
sible, reversal. As it happened, the Palatine 
affairs made one great subject of criticism by 
the Tories. The Tory mind was, at the out- 
set, affected against the cause of those refu- 
gees and opposed to the assisting hand of the 
government, and the following events very 
soon committed them strongly against the past 
sympathy and all future assistance. 



The Failure 197 

Before the Palatines were embarked for the 
colonies, murmurs of jealous discontent on the 
part of the poor of London began to be heard. 
Says Burnet, * " Some things concurred to 
put the vulgar into ill humor : it was a time of 
dearth and scarcity, so that the poor were much 
pinched." The aid given to the Palatines " by 
the Queen and voluntary charities of good peo- 
ple filled our own poor with great indignation, 
who thought that these charities, to which they 
had a better right, were intercepted by stran- 
gers." The House of Commons, after the 
accession of the Tory government, " finding 
the encouragement given to the Palatines so 
displeasing to the people, ordered a Commit- 
tee to examine into the matter." 

The Report of this Committee has already 
been noticed. It was marked by much unfair- 
ness of judgment. The blame for the whole- 
sale immigration was laid on the Naturaliza- 
tion Act of 1708, a measure passed by the 
Whigs after the arrival of Kockerthal with 
the first company from the Palatinate. There 
can be no doubt that the act was made be- 
cause of that arrival, and with the hope of 

* Hist. Own Time, iv,, 230, 258. 



igS The Palatines 

attracting to England still larger numbers of 
that distressed people. The bill 

"was debated in both houses with great vehemence. 
The Whigs argued that it would be an effectual means 
to encourage industry, improve trade and manufactures, 
and repair the waste of men occasioned by the war. 
The Tories objected with many dangerous consequences. 
Spies and informers would come with the immigrants. 
The strangers would insinuate themselves into positions 
of trust, and would contribute to the extinction of the 
English race. They would greatly increase the number 
of our poor, already so great a burden." * 

It is a curious fact that, though this act was 
undoubtedly passed to encourage the emigra- 
tion of the Palatines, and though that people 
came in crowds during the next year, yet it is 
doubtful whether the act had anything to do 
with that popular movement. Very few of 
the Palatines sought to be naturalized in Lon- 
don, and probably a still smaller number of 
them were attracted thither by a knowledge 
of that act. The bait which drew them was 
in the tidingrs of the kindness shown to Kock- 
erthal and his companions, and in the pros- 
pect of being sent to America. However, the 
coincidence of the act with the immigration 

* Mortimer's England, iii., 232. 



The Failure 199 

gave the Tories a trenchant weapon for 
attack upon the Whigs, and the House Com- 
mittee made the most of it. Every objection- 
able feature of the matter was emphasized and 
exaggerated. " It happened," says Burnet, 
"at a bad season. Bread was at double the 
ordinary price. The time of sailing to the 
plantations was at a great distance." The 
sojourn in London was for eight months, with 
constant accessions and the depletions made 
by the Irish and Carolina settlements. Dur- 
ing all this time the people were subsisted at 
public cost. ** The poor complained that such 
charities went to strangers, when they needed 
much . . . Some [Palatines] were both 
inactive and mutinous, and this hightened the 
outcry against them." The Tories made use 
of all to discredit the Whigs. Smollett {Hist- 
ory of England, ii., loi, 102) says : 

" The inhabitants of St. Olaves and other parishes pre- 
sented a petition, complaining that a great number of 
Palatines, inhabiting one house, might produce a con- 
tagious distemper, and in time become a charge to the 
public, as they were destitute of all visible means of 
subsistence. This petition had been procured by the 
tories, that the House of Commons might have another 
handle for attacking the late ministry." 



200 The Palatines 

They managed to bring the House to a 
sudden vote that the Palatines were 

"an extravagant and unreasonable charge to the King- 
dom, and a scandalous misapplication of public money, 
tending to the increase and oppression of the poor, and 
of dangerous consequence to the constitution of Church 
and State, and whoever advised their being brought over 
was an enemy to the Queen and Kingdom." 

The repeal of the Naturalization Act took 
place in 171 2. The former vote of condem- 
nation was taken in 1711, while the work on 
the Manor had just begun, and Hunter was 
already pressing for payment of his advances. 
To the official mind in England the entire un- 
dertaking was thus thoroughly discredited, and 
all its obligations were repudiated, without 
regard to the good faith of government or the 
pitiable plight of the New York Governor. 
It may be that, after his return to England, 
Hunter obtained some redress from a later 
administration ; but no record thereof is found 
in the colonial documents, nor would it be 
likely to there obtain statement. 




CHAPTER VI. 



THE PROMISED LAND. 



THE letter from Hunter to Cast, written 
in September, 171 2, saying that he had 
" exhausted both substance and credit," 
gave the finishing stroke to the "great and 
good design," Nor was the work ever re- 
sumed. The cost of it was accounted as so 
much money thrown away. At sundry times, 
through the remainder of Hunter's government 
of the province, references to the scheme were 
made in the correspondence with the Board of 
Trade. The Governor laments over the fail- 
ure and never loses his confidence that a noble 
and most beneficent success would have been 
achieved, had the effort been properly sup- 
ported. At one time the Lords of Trade were 
stirred to languid interest in the subject, and 
inquired of Hunter as to the condition of the 



202 The Palatines 

trees already prepared, and the prospects of 
any new engagement in the work. Their let- 
ter came to Hunter as the breath of hope, and 
was responded to with some enthusiasm. He 
replied : 

" Since your Lordships have hinted an intention to re- 
sume the project, in this Province there is Pitch Pine 
trees enough to yield a quantity of stores sufficient for 
the uses of all the Navigation of England. . . . One 
of the Commissioners has returned. He has brought 
along with him some chips cut by him from several of 
the prepared trees, by which I may reasonably compute 
that about a third of the Trees will yield well. . , . 
I can think of no solid way of preventing the total de- 
cay of trade, and consequently the ruin of the Provinces, 
but by setting on foot and carrying on vigorously the 
production of Naval Stores mentioned." 

The Governor's hope certainly dies hard. 

In his next letter on the subject, however, 
he tunes a more dolorous note. Under date 
of October 2, 1716, he wrote : 

" I am at a loss for the true cause of the disappointment 
from the Trees prepared for tar. What I chiefly guess 
to be the cause of this miscarriage is this, that the Trees, 
being barked by an unskilful and unruly multitude, were 
for the most part pierced in the inward rind, by which 
means they became exhausted by the sun's heat in the 
succeeding summer. Many of them are good, but not 
in that quantity that will answer the expence and labor." 



The Promised Land 203 

Then he reiterates his former statements as 
to the vast capabiHties of the province for this 
production, and concludes, "but after the dis- 
appointment I have met with, I cannot advise 
the renewing of the project until we have per- 
sons skilled and practiced." This reads like 
an epitaph and moves one to sympathy with 
the Governor in this burial of his most cher- 
ished hope, out of which, he tells us, he had 
taken more comfort than from auorht else in his 
government in America. But this is the end, 
and we read no more of naval stores as the 
expected product of New York. 

Meanwhile the Palatines on the Manor re- 
cognized their freedom, and at once took steps 
towards making of it the best use possible. 
There are no records of any general plan of 
action, but subsequent events would indicate 
that the disposition of the entire company was 
outlined in council. Some were to stay on the 
Manor — a little less than one third of their 
number — and make for themselves permanent 
place ; seeking subsistence from the soil and 
from hirinor themselves to neio-hborinor farmers. 
Among this number also were those — women 
and infirm — who did not esteem themselves 



204 The Palatines 

equal to further migration and to new strug- 
gles with unknown conditions. The rest of 
the people girded themselves for their journey 
to "the promised land of Scorie." 

Of the quota remaining on the Manor not 
many notes need here to be made. They 
settled down to farming and such other voca- 
tions as were needed, and were the fathers 
of a like permanent and sturdy stock to that 
which for generations has peopled the lands on 
the west side of the river. There appears in 
the Documentary History (iii., 421), under 
date of 8 Oct. 1 71 5, a petition to the Governor 
from John F. Hager, on the part of himself 
and sixty families of the Palatines on the 
Manor, asking "license to build a church in 
Kingsbury, 60 feet in length and 40 feet 
wide, to Perform Divine Service, according to 
the Liturgy and Rites of the Church of Eng- 
land as by Law established . . . also 
liberty to Crave the favour and charity of well- 
disposed People for aid and assistance." Inas- 
much as this Hager was himself a clergyman — 
either Lutheran or Reformed, to which two 
forms of the Protestant faith all the Palatines 
adhered — it is probable that the stipulation as 



The Promised Land 205 

to the Church of England was designed and 
understood as merely a legal fiction. What- 
ever action was taken by the Governor on this 
petition, the church contemplated could not 
have been erected, for in 1 72 1 Governor Burnet, 
who succeeded Hunter in the province, issued 
a brief to Robt. Livingston, permitting him "to 
make collections for preparing or building a 
church on his Manor, and to call a Pious Re- 
formed Protestant Minister from Holland." 
This was the beginning of the still existent 
Reformed Church of Germantown. 

Another interesting item, is found in a 
" Petition of Jacob Sharpe, Christophel Haga- 
torn and Jacob Shoemaker, in behalf of them- 
selves and other Palatines on the Livingston 
Manor," asking for a grant to them and their 
heirs of the lands purchased by Governor Hun- 
ter from Livingston. This petition bears date 
of June 13, 1724, and to it the Council replied 
by directing the Surveyor-General, Cadwalla- 
der Colden, to inquire what families, and how 
many, were on the land and willing to take 
His Majesty's grant. He presently reported 
the number of families as sixty-three, " not all 
having a like quantity in possession," and 



2o6 The Palatines 

recommended that it was " wise to grant the 
said land " to the petitioners named and other 
principal men, in trust for the whole company. 
Inasmuch as this land belonged to Hunter, 
who paid good money for it out of his own 
purse, one is moved to wonder if any compen- 
sation was made to him therefor. The land 
seems to be regarded as tho, by his departure 
from the province, it had escheated to the 
crown. It does not appear, however, that the 
advice of Colden was followed by the Assem- 
bly, nor do we here need to inquire farther 
about it. 

About thirty families on the Manor moved 
a few miles southward and settled on lands cov- 
ered by the patent given to Henry Beekman. 
It is said — a statement difficult to verify — that 
their movement was due to Livingston's un- 
willingness to give them titles to the lands oc- 
cupied by them. He did not wish to alienate 
the fee, and would only agree to a lease for 
three lives. This, of course, must refer to 
such of the people as had sought a freehold 
outside of the tract purchased by Hunter, un- 
less Livingston, after Hunter's departure, had 
attempted to assert a right over that tract. 



The Promised Land 20). 

These thirty families found a more liberal dis- 
position in Henry Beekman, who sold them 
lands in fee, in that part of his patent which is 
covered by the town of Rhinebeck. The name 
of that town is distinctly Palatine, as in its 
first syllable a memorial of the much-loved 
river in the old country. As the last syllable 
was formerly written, " beek," it has been 
thought to have been taken from the name of 
Beekman, in honor of his fair dealings with 
these people. 

Whatever may have been the difficulty on 
the land question, or the origin of the latter 
lialf of " Rhinebeck," it is certain that that 
town was founded by these Palatines, many of 
whose names still obtain in the locality. From 
Rhinebeck also the descendants of these people 
found various and scattered homes throuofh- 
out Dutchess County, and have given to the 
State and nation many men of prominence and 
usefulness. 

Those of the people who went to the Scho- 
harie valley had for several years an experi- 
ence of further affliction. Some writers have 
charged these troubles to their ignorance ; but 
beyond denial the origin of them is found in 



2o8 The Palatines 

the anger of the Governor and the cupidity of 
designing men, to whom the Governor, in the 
first heat of his resentment, surrendered them 
as victims. The chief man among them, John 
Conrad Weiser, educated and an ex-magistrate, 
cannot be reckoned as an ignorant person. 
However "riotous and rebelHous " he may 
have been in resisting the Governor and his 
agents, he was not Hkely to sacrifice the inter- 
ests of his people through sheer ignorance of 
common law. 

As already noted several times in this narra- 
tive, the thought of the supposed original des- 
tination of the Palatines had not lost its charm 
to the minds of very many of them. To all 
remonstrances and arguments of the Governor 
and Cast they answered with one word — Scho- 
harie. They called it, " Schorie." This to 
them was the land of promise. They talked 
of Schorie ; they dreamed of Schorie, and to 
Schorie would they go. In their last winter 
on the Manor they had planned for ways to 
reach that country of blessing, and through 
the following spring and summer waited for 
fitting opportunity to put their plans in opera- 
tion. They must proceed with caution, as 



The Promised Land 209 

any general or large migration, while the tar- 
work was in progress, would be promptly 
checked by the military kept at the Manor to 
compel the submission of the people. Even 
individual deserters were brought back and 
punished. 

Thus waiting, they hailed the order to cease 
the work and for the people to shift for them- 
selves, as a proclamation of freedom. They 
at once despatched to Schoharie seven dep- 
uties — principal men among them — and the 
" List men," of the villages, of whom Weiser 
was chief. These men were to visit the valley, 
examine its land, deal with the Indians in the 
neighborhood, and find the best route for the 
people to take thither. The visit of these 
deputies must have been made in the early 
fall, and according to their own report they 
were received by the Indians in the valley with 
the utmost friendliness. 

Brown * says — a statement probably drawn 
from tradition, for he gives no authority — that 
the first inhabitant of the Schoharie valley was 
a French Indian, Karigondonte, who had mar- 
ried a Mohawk squaw, in consequence whereof 

* Sketch of Schoharie, p. 52. 
14 



2IO The Palatines 

he was forced to leave his tribe. He took pos- 
ession of the Schoharie valley and seems to 
have established there a sort of Cave Adul- 
1am, attracting thither from the surrounding 
tribes " such as were discontented and such as 
were in debt." Presently, he had gathered 
about him " a nation three hundred strong," 
which took the name of their chief, and was 
made up of Mohawks, Mohegans, Discororas, 
and Delawares. 

That section of the valley occupied by these 
Indians and given to the Palatines, afterwards 
described as the Schoharie Flats, 

" began on the Little Schoharie Creek, in the present 
town of Middleburg, at the high-water mark of the Scho- 
harie river, and at an oak stump burned hollow — which 
stump is said to have served the Mohawk and Stock- 
bridge Indians as a corn-mill — and ran down the river 
to the north, on both sides, a distance of ten miles, and 
containing about twenty thousand acres. By the side of 
this stump was erected a pile of stones, still standing after 
1800. Upon the stump were cut the figures of a turtle 
and a snake, the sign of the Karighondonte tribe, as a 
seal of the contract." 

Sims,* from whose history the above quotation 
is taken, represents this contract as one made 

* Hist, of Schoharie Co., p. 47. 



The Promised Land 211 

by the Indians with " an agent of the Queen, 
to prevent hostiHties between them and the 
Germans." This, as we know, is a mistake. 
No agent of the Queen made such a contract. 
On the contrary, all the Queen's representatives 
in the province, who had any relation to the 
matter, did their best to prevent the Palatines 
going to Schoharie, and, after they had gone 
thither, to render residence there as uncomfort- 
able as possible. If there was any such stump 
and any seal of contract engraved thereon, the 
"party of the second part" must have been, 
not the Queen's agent, but the Palatine dep- 
uties from the Manor. 

These seven " Chiefs," — as they are termed 
in some parts of the narrative, — headed by 
Weiser, proceeded on their mission by way of 
Albany, and there obtained an Indian guide. 
He led them over the Helderbergs and down 
the Fox Creek to its junction with the Schoha- 
rie, in the very heart of their chosen valley. 
Entering it in the early fall, they must at once 
have realized that their dreams had not played 
them false, for certainly fairer sight their eyes 
had not beheld since they left their old country 
on the Rhine. It is a deep valley, where the 



212 The Palatines 

copious dews from April to October make a 
constant and luxuriant verdure. The hills on 
either side, here sloping gently upward, and 
there standing in bold bulk of precipitous rock, 
seemed to promise bulwarks of defence and 
protection from further foes. The broad 
alluvial flats prophesied plenty on the farms 
that were to be, while the river, like a broad 
silver ribbon, wound its way among the level 
meadows, its full and quiet flood an image of 
contented peace. 

The Palatine statement tells of most hospi- 
table treatment of the deputies by the Indians. 
The deputies " intreated them [the Indians] 
to give 'em permission to settle on the tract 
of land called Schorie." This the Indians 
readily granted, saying that " they had formerly 
given this land to Queen Anne for them." 
This last statement provokes a smile, for what- 
ever may be the truth about that gift to the 
Queen, it is pretty certain that the company 
of Karigondonte had nothing to do with it. 
However, he and his nondescript tribe seem to 
have had the friendliest disposition. 

When the deputies returned to the Manor 
and made report of the welcome extended, "it 



The Promised Land 213 

put the people in heart. All hands fell to 
work, and in 2 weeks' time cleared a way thro' 
the woods of 1 5 miles long, with the utmost 
toyle and labour." The locality of this " way 
thro' the woods" is somewhat uncertain, tho 
it is probably to be found near the end of the 
journey, and not at the beginning, as the narra- 
tive would imply. The unbroken wilderness, 
through which the pioneer's axe must make a 
road, was rather on the Helderbergs than on 
the bank of the Hudson. The migration of 
the people was in two companies. The first 
company was composed of fifty families, which, 
so soon as possible after the return of the 
deputies, set out upon the journey. Whether 
they travelled by boats to Albany or trooped 
the way on foot the " statement " does not 
tell. It was doubtless a sorry-looking company 
and poorly furnished, appealing in the poverty 
of their resources to the charity of the good 
people of Albany. And in the immediately 
subsequent months, their need received much 
help, not only from the Dutch in Albany, but 
also from the Consistory of the Dutch Church 
in the city of New York. 

Hardly was the toilsome journey over before 



214 The Palatines 

a new and different trouble began, the tale of 
which beginning may best be told in their own 
words : 

" Being arrived and almost settled, they received orders 
from the Gov.°"' not to goe upon the land, and he who 
did so should be declared a Rebell. . . This Message 
sounded like thunder in their ears and surprised them 
beyond expression ; but having seriously weighed mat- 
ters amongst themselves, and finding no manner of like- 
lihood of subsisting else\vhere,but a Certainty of perishing 
by hunger, cold, etc., if they returned, they found them- 
selves under the fatall necessity of hazarding the Gov" Re- 
sentment, that being to all more eligible than Starving.* 

It does not appear why the Governor should 
have sent this order, or have had any just 
objection to the settlement in Schoharie. 
Certainly, in his message abandoning the " tar- 
work," he had told the people to shift for 
themselves, and had only limited their choice 
of location to the two provinces of New York 
and New Jersey. He had, indeed, required 
that those who left the Manor should obtain 
tickets of leave, and this formality, probably, 
the people did not observe. Nothing, how- 
ever, is said about such dereliction, tho it is clear 

* Doc. Hist., iii., 425. 



The Promised Land 215 

that the people departed without asking the 
Governor's permission to go to Schoharie. The 
whole aspect of the movement to his mind was 
of a refractory body withdrawing from under 
his immediate eye and authorty, and going 
behind the barriers of forest into a retired 
valley, whither the obligations of the contract 
could not easily follow them. He was ap- 
prehensive lest, if that precious project should 
be resumed, he might not be able from that 
distance to bring his workers. Besides, and 
fully so powerful, was a sentimental considera- 
tion : that for two years that " tract of land 
called Schorie" had been as a bone of conten- 
tion between him and the Palatines. They, 
like Israel in Egypt, had been incessantly cry- 
ing, " Let us go ; " and he as constantly reply- 
ing, " I will not let you go." And now the 
Governor saw himself outwitted, more by the 
hardness of events than by the cunning of the 
people ; and yet, however brought about, a 
thing to be resented. There was much in- 
justice in the Governor's thought, and more in 
his subsequent conduct, and yet it is quite in- 
telligible that, with all his soreness of spirit 
over the great failure, and his irritation at the 



2i6 The Palatines 

self-determined methods of the Palatines, he 
should resolve that, whatever happened, they 
should not possess that coveted valley. 

But for the present he was powerless. The 
first band of the emigrants had reached the 
Schoharie, and the winter had closed in upon 
them. Nor in any case could the Governor 
drive them out by force. We shall see that 
he adopted other means, far more worrying. 

In the meantime the settlers suffered many 
privations through the winter. The " barbar- 
ous people showed them no little kindness," 
and out of their own scanty stores of maize 
gave freely to them. Young Weiser writes : 
** They broke ground enough (in the spring) 
to plant corn for the use of the next year. 
But this year our hunger was hardly endura- 
ble." The Indians showed them where to find 
many edible roots. " Many of our feasts were 
of wild potatoes (oehmanada) and ground- 
beans (otagraquam)." In the opening spring 
the other company, about one hundred fami- 
lies, made their way to the valley. The quaint 
narrative says : 

" In the same year in March (17 13) did the remainder 
of the people (tho treated by the Governor as Pharaoh 



The Promised Land 217 

treated the Israelites) proceed on their journey, and by 
God's Assistance travell'd in [a] fourtnight with sledges 
thro' the snow, which there covered the ground above 3 
foot deep, cold and hunger, Joyn'd their friends and 
countrymen in the promised land of Schorie." 

This comparison of Hunter to Pharaoh may 
allude to some unrecorded actions of the Gov- 
ernor by which he essayed to detain the people 
on the Manor. If so, the determined migra- 
tion served to add to his resentment. He had 
time to lay his plans while the people made 
their settlements. 

They disposed themselves in seven villages — 
dorps or dorfs — along the Schoharie, naming 
each from one of their seven chiefs. Of these 
the more considerable were Weiser's dorp, in 
the present Middleburgh ; Fuchs's dorp (after- 
wards anglicized to Fox), at the junction of 
the Fox Creek with the Schoharie ; and Knis- 
kern's dorp at the mouth of the Cobleskill. 
On the site of the present Court House village 
was an eighth hamlet called Brunnen dorp, from 
the springs in the hill-side, and from which the 
hamlet was afterwards called Fountaintown. 
At Fuchs's dorp was the centre of the settle- 
ment. On the Fox Creek was built the first 



2t8 The Palatines 

mill which freed the people from carrying their 
grain to Schenectady. It was at the Fuchs's dorp 
that the people gathered for Sunday worship ; 
and on the sightly bluff, which divides the Fox 
from the Schoharie, was, in 1772, built the Old 
Stone Church — or Fort — which still stands, 
one of the most picturesque historic buildings 
in the State. 

The people had not long been in Schoharie 
and were still suffering through the privations 
incident to their new settlement, when the first 
of their troubles about their lands was put upon 
them by the son of the Colonel Nicholas Bay- 
ard, who, about twenty-five years before this 
time, had received from Governor Fletcher a 
patent to a "certain tract of land called Sko- 
hare, beginning at the mouth of the Skohare 
river and runs to head of said river." * Inas- 
much as the Schoharie is about fifty miles long, 
this Bayard patent may well be rated among 
the "extravagant grants" given by Fletcher.f 
Colden describes this governor's " liberal hands, 
with which he gave away lands. The most ex- 
traordinary favors of former governors were 
but petty grants in comparison with his." We 

* Col. Hist., v., 634, f Doc. Hist., i., 250. 



The Promised Land 219 

are not to understand that these grants by 
Fletcher were given without "a considera- 
tion." He was notoriously corrupt. '^ Bello- 
mont wrote, in 1701, "I believe not less than 
seven millions of acres were granted in thirteen 
grants, and all uninhabited except Mr. Rans- 
lear's." He said also that Fletcher had made 
a fortune of ;!^3o,ooo by his corrupt practices. 

The London Board of Trade was alarmed 
by this extravagance of Fletcher and laid the 
matter for advice before the Lords Justices of 
England, v/ho declared such grants improper 
and that they should be annulled. Bellomont 
was instructed to obtain from the provincial 
Assembly an act voiding all the grant patents 
issued by Fletcher. As already noted, such 
act was passed in 1698, and Colonel Bayard lost 
his immense estate. On several occasions ef- 
forts were made to get this act repealed — and 
several petitions of Samuel Bayard are pre- 
served, requesting to be restored to his father's 
lands. 

What this Bayard expected to realize among 
the Palatines is not quite clear, but there can 
be no doubt that his scheme was not charged 

* Col. IIist.,iw., 822, 826. 



220 The Palatines 

with beneficence to the new settlers. Sims 
and others speak of him as " an agent of the 
Queen." Their account runs that he came 
to Schoharie and published a notice " to every 
householder, who would make known the 
boundaries of land taken by him, that he 
would give a deed in the name of the Sove- 
reign." * The statement is absurd. Bayard 
could not have been an agent of the Queen. 
He was not in government favor in the pro- 
vince, and had no relations to the govern- 
ment in England, while all the properly 
accredited agents of the Queen and the home 
government were distinctly unfriendly to the 
Palatines and in no mood to arrange that 
their titles to the Schoharie lands should be 
made clear. The story quoted proceeds to 
say that the Palatines were enraged at Bayard, 
supposing that he had come in the interest 
of their oppressors, and mobbed him, driving 
him out of the valley ; that he went to 
Schenectady, and thence sent back a message 
to Schoharie, "offering to give to such as 
should appear there with a single ear of corn, 
acknowledge him as royal agent, and name 

* Sims, Schohaire Co., p. 60. 



The Promised Land 221 

the bounds of it [their land], a free deed and 
lasting title." It appears that Bayard's pa- 
tience and generosity were extensive after 
such treatment as he had received. But they 
were not proof against the contemptuous 
refusal of the Palatines to take any notice 
of this offer, for the tale concludes that, since 
nobody from Schoharie appeared to take 
advantage of his kindness, he went to Albany 
and sold the lands to Myndert Schuyler, Peter 
van Brugh, Robert Livingston Jr., John 
Schuyler, and Henry Wileman. These gentle- 
men did, indeed, come into possession of titles 
to Schoharie, but not by means of such pur- 
chase from Bayard. 

The reflection upon this story by those who 
record it for sober history is that the hos- 
tile action of the Palatines was due to their 
ignorance, in consequence of which they de- 
prived themselves of secure titles and brought 
on all their subsequent troubles. But we may 
set that aside as quite impossible, for Weiser 
and the chiefs were intelligent men, and un- 
doubtedly judged correctly that Bayard's mis- 
sion was not of a friendly nature, and that any 
titles taken from him would be of no value. 



222 The Palatines 

It is far more probable that, in place of offering 
them titles from the Queen, Bayard planned 
to practise upon their supposed ignorance, and 
on the ground of his father's annulled patent 
to induce them to either buy or take leases 
from himself. Nor can we suppose that the 
" Gentlemen of Albany," who were afterwards 
called the " Five Partners," were ignorant 
enough to buy from Bayard land which had 
been taken from him by legislative enact- 
ment. They took their title from under the 
hand of Gov. Hunter, tho it may be that 
the suggestions of Bayard had something to 
do with their application.* 

Bayard had not long disappeared from the 
valley, when another claimant to Schoharie 
lands came on the scene, in the person of 
Adam Vroman, of Schenectady. The land 
to which he had title was situated well up 
the valley, embracing the most of what is 
now the township of Middleburgh. His 
patent is still outlined on the county maps, 
and he has a more enduring monument in 

* This Bayard was in some way connected with the Leisler Rebel- 
lion in New York, was tried for high treason and condemned to 
death, but was pardoned. Cornbury declared that the action against 
him was very unjust {Col. Hist., iv., 974). 



The Promised Land 223 

the name of one of the mountains at its side, 
a bold, high, and rocky headland, called Vro- 
man's Nose, jutting out into the Flat and 
dominating the valley for miles, both south 
and north. He is said to have purchased 
his lands from the Indians in 171 1, but his 
chief reliance for title rests on the patent 
given by Gov. Hunter in August, 1714 — a 
date eighteen months later than the Scho- 
harie migration of the Palatines. 

Vroman came to take possession of this land 
in the year after the issuance of the patent, 
and had a rather hard time of it, as appears 
from his complaint to the Governor. We can 
let him tell his story in his own words, which 
were written at Schenectady, "9 July 1715. 
In hast." He writes, "The Palatines threat- 
ened in a rebellious manner, if I should build 
or manure the Land at Schore that your 
Excellency was pleased to grant me a Patent 
for." He had manured and sowed some of 
the land, and " they still drove their horses 
on it at night." He was 

" building a stone house 23 feet square and so high so I 
had Layd the Beames of the Chamber, they had a Con- 
tryvance to tie bells about horses' necks and drive them 



224 The Palatines 

to and fro. In which time they pulled my house Stones 
and all to the Ground. ... They used such rebel- 
lious expressions that was never heard of. . . . John 
Conradus Wiser has been the Ring Leader of all fac- 
tions. . . . They made the Indians drunk to that 
degree to go and mark off land with them. ... I 
am no wayes secure of my life. They went and pulled 
my son off of the waggon and beat him and said they 
would kill him or his father or any body else who came 
their, . . . Wiser and two or three more has made 
their escape by way of Boston and have said they would 
go for England, but has left his Son which is their In- 
terpreter to the Indians and every day tells the Indians 
many Lyes, whereby much mischief may ensue more 
than we now think off and is much to be feared . . . 
I don't find a Great many Concerned with this Wiser 
and his son in their disobedient, unlawful, and Rebellious 
proceedings . . . Those that are good subjects 
among them and will not Joyn with them are afraid the 
others will Burn their houses down by their threatening 
words." 

They must have been hot words Indeed. 

One can have considerable compassion for 
Vroman in this evil case, without at the same 
time condemning very severely the conduct of 
Weiser and his companions. Their proceed- 
ings were, of course, irregular and unlawful, 
but they were the only means left to them for 
defending what they not unjustly considered 



The Promised Land 225 

their rights. They knew that no complaints 
of invasion on those rights would be enter- 
tained by the Governor for a moment. They 
perceived that the Vroman patent was but one 
item in a plan to deprive them of all hope of 
possession in their promised land. So in the 
absence of any friend at court, without any 
legal title to the land they had occupied, but 
which they believed to be morally their own, 
they adopted the policy of worrying and fright- 
ening off the intruders. It was a weak policy, 
but all they could adopt. Nor did it succeed. 
The Dutch blood of the Vromans had too 
much staying quality for that. 

One other measure, indeed, they did attempt 
— ^a purchase on their own account from the 
Indians. Their "statement of Grievances" 
relates that, when some people from Albany 
endeavored to obtain land "round them so as 
to close them up," they themselves "bought 
the rest of the land at Schorie, being woods. 
Rocks and pasturidg, for 300 pieces of eight." 
This is the transaction to which the complaint 
of Vroman alludes, " getting the Indians drunk 
so as to mark off land with them." The 
younger Weiser speaks of this purchase for 



226 The Palatines 

three hundred dollars, as tho that sum were 
paid for the entire valley, and on the visit of 
the deputies to the Indians. 

But neither this purchase not the persecu- 
tion of Vroman aided them. They were evi- 
dently the victims of the Governor's resentful 
purpose to leave them not a foot of ground to 
stand upon in Schoharie. There is no injustice 
to Hunter in so speaking. However incon- 
sistent with his general character this conduct 
of the Governor was, it yet finds plenty of evi- 
dence. Beyond question the right thing for 
him to have done under the circumstances was 
to give to the Palatines land in Schoharie. 
They had come over under a contract, part of 
which promised to them land, and the failure 
of the tar project through no fault of theirs 
did not absolve the government from its prom- 
ise to give them forty acres for each family. 
Besides, whatever may have been the founda- 
tion in fact for the Palatine dream of Scho- 
harie, it is certain that others than themselves 
considered that valley as their destined place. 
Hunter himself admitted this, but alleged the 
difficulty of tar-making in that locality as a 
reason for settling them on the Hudson. 



The Promised Land 227 

When, therefore, that design was abandoned, 
and a large majority of the Palatines had 
found their way to Schoharie, the only proper 
thing for Hunter to do, was to confirm them 
in possession, if not of the whole valley, at 
least of so much acreage as would satisfy the 
conditions of the contract. 

But the fact was that the Governor did not 
exercise a judicial mind. He seems to have 
visited on the poor Palatines all his wrath be- 
cause of the great failure, for which they were 
in no wise to blame. He should have visited 
his anger on the British Treasury ; and on 
Clarendon, who involved Hunter in his hatred 
of Livingston ; and perhaps on Livingston, who 
may have cheated him and certainly did get all 
the profit there was in the business for any- 
body. The Palatines he should have acquitted 
of blame and settled them peacefully and un- 
disturbed. Instead, he pursued a course alike 
reprehensible and unworthy of himself. Per- 
haps it would not be correct to say, that 
the course of events, by which the Palatines 
found settlement at Schoharie difficult and 
more than half of them were driven from the 
valley, was in consequence of any prearranged 



228 The Palatines 

plan of the Governor. At the same time it 
is clear enough that he did not hesitate to 
embrace the opportunity offered by the cupid- 
ity of land-grabbers to make his spite against 
that people effective. This situation is well 
expressed by E. M. Smith — the only writer 
who seems to have formed a correct judgment 
of these transactions — in his History of Rhine- 
beck. He there says : * 

" There was evidently a purpose, favored by Gov. 
Hunter, that the land of Schoharie, which they claimed 
and whither they had gone, should not be owned by 
these people, but that it should be owned by some non- 
resident favorites, perhaps for a personal consideration, 
to whom they should for ever remain mere ' hewers of 
wood and drawers of water.' " 

This conclusion is fully justified on careful 
comparison of dates. Thus the voiding of the 
Bayard grant took place in 1698, from which 
time, whether with or without the ground of 
an Indian gift, the lands were looked upon as 
belonging to the Queen. Until the entrance 
of the Palatines in the late fall of 171 2, no 
white man had attempted possession and no 
claim of ownership had been asserted, unless 

* p- 91. 



The Promised Land 229 

we except the possible purchase from the In- 
dians of a portion of the lands by Vroman in 
1 71 1. On any right so acquired, however, it 
is significant that Vroman himself does not 
lay stress, but founds his title on the patent 
given by Hunter in the summer of 1714. This 
was a year and a half after the Palatines had 
gone to the valley. * The Vroman patent 
covered the lands of Weiser's dorp, and also 
those of Ober- Weiser's dorp, another hamlet 
soon established at a little distance up the 
stream. There is not much of detraction from 
the sinister quality of this grant in the fact 
that Vroman's petition for the grant was 
made a year before the patent issued. That 
also was subsequent to the Palatine occupa- 
tion, by several months ; and one needs not 
to draw severely on imagination to suppose, 
that the Palatine entrance was the means of 
turning the attention and cupidity of Vroman 
towards Schoharie. But, however that may 
be, there is no doubt that Hunter gave to 
Vroman lands which he knew were already in 

* For dates of Petitions and Patents for Land, here alluded to, 
see " Calendar of N. Y. Land Papers," pp., 142-182. The Papers are 
in vols, v.-x., of " Land Papers" in the office of the Secretary of 
State. 



230 The Palatines 

possession of the Palatines. To suppose that 
Vroman paid him for the lands, as the Pala- 
tines were unable to do, is only to add the 
charge of corruption to that of cruelty. The 
only pecuniary condition for a patent allowed 
by law was the payment of an annual Quit 
Rent to the crown, whatever may have been 
done by way of purchase from the Indians. 
Hunter was an honest man, and we cannot 
suppose him guilty of those practices which 
disgraced his predecessor, Fletcher. Undoubt- 
edly, beyond extinguishing the Indian title, 
and the clerical fees, Vroman paid nothing for 
his patent. As to the necessary Quit Rents, 
the Palatines would have eno-asfed for those 
as readily as he. There can be no reason, 
save that of the Governor's pleasure, for the 
preference of Vroman to the Palatines. Vro- 
man did not attempt to enter on possession 
until more than two years after the people 
had settled on the lands. 

But this is not all. Whatever may have 
been the nature of the transactions between 
Bayard and the " Five Partners," those gen- 
tlemen did not consider their title secured, 
save by a patent from under the Gov- 



The Promised Land 231 

ernor's hand. Their petition was presented 
in May, 1714, and the patent was issued in 
the following November. " The patent began 
at the northern limit of Vroman's patent on 
the west side, and at the Little Schoharie kill 
on the east side, and ran north on both sides 
of the river to beyond the Coble's Kill." * 
This finished the legal expulsion of the Pala- 
tines begun by the Vroman patent. The two 
patents together granted away from them the 
ground upon which they had built their houses 
and every foot of land which they had broken 
for seed. The action would seem to justify 
the language of Weiser, '' as the hawk pounces 
on the dove cote, these powerful parties fell 
on the victims." 

There appears under date of the same 
November a license to "Samuel Staats and 
Rip Van Dam to purchase 2000 acres each at 
a place called Foxes Creek in the county of 
Albany." Foxes Creek was an affluent of the 
Schoharie and the "place" is near to Fuchs's 
dorp at the junction of the two streams. 
There is no record of a patent having been 
issued for the described purchase, but we hear 

* Sims's Schoharie Co. 



232 The Palatines 

of it again in an application to the Governor 
by Philip Schuyler,* "for himself and the rest 
of the heirs of Dr. Staats," for a license to 
purchase lands at Schoharie. This application 
was made in 1716. In the next year a survey 
was ordered for Rip van Dam and Philip 
Schuyler "for himself." What became of 
*' the rest of the heirs " does not appear. Nor 
does it appear that these two men ever came 
into possession of Schoharie lands. The 
items are noted as suggestive of the kind of 
discipline the Palatines were being subjected to. 

A more notable suororestion is found in a rec- 
ord that in 1716, Feb. 10, John Christ Gerlach 
petitioned for license to purchase 150 acres of 
vacant and unappropriated lands at Schoharie. 
This Gerlach was probably of the family of 
the head man of Garloch's drop. No action 
was taken on this petition, and no license 
granted. It begins to be evident that with 
the Governor's good-will no Palatine should 
secure a title in Schoharie. 

Schuyler writes that there was also a patent 
for land in Schoharie valley issued to Gover- 
nor Hunter and called Huntersfield. This 

♦Schuyler's Col. N. F.,ii., 433. 



The Promised Land 233 

does not appear among the "Land Papers," 
but the name Huntersfield obtained for a por- 
tion of the valley between the present villages 
of Middleburgh and Schoharie, and was in 
frequent use until within the memory of men 
now living. How the name could originate 
without such patent, or whether the name, 
arising in some other way, gave currency to 
the statement that the patent existed, are 
questions that need not detain us. 

Not until more than five years after Hunter's 
return to England does it appear that any 
Palatine obtained title to land in the valley, 
save by purchase from the five partners. 
Then, in 1725, "William York and Lewis 
York, Palatines," obtained a warrant of survey 
for 600 acres, south of the Vroman and 
Schuyler patents. Possibly an exception to 
this statement exists in the record that God- 
freid De Wolven, undoubtedly a Palatine, 
in May, 1722, petitioned for a grant of " 150 
acres of the land lying vacant and unappro- 
priated in this province." Within sixty days 
he received both a warrant of survey and a 
certificate for "150 acres in the County of 
Albany." This entry does not show that De 



234 The Palatines 

Wolven's land was at Schoharie, tho there 
is nothing to indicate to the contrar)', the 
valley of Schoharie being at that time part of 
Albany County. 

One other land patent remains to be noted. 
This, after several petitions and warrants, was 
finally granted to Lewis Morris, Jr., and An- 
dries Coeymans. These men, from New York, 
discovered that the lands along Fox Creek were 
not included in the patent of the five partners, 
and at once applied for them. The land was 
the same as that applied for, but not obtained 
by Van Dam and Philip Schuyler. For some 
reason, Morris and Coeymans were more suc- 
cessful. They secured the title in 1726, and 
at once made common cause with the five 
" Gentlemen of Albany." The two companies 
together were thereafter spoken of as the 
" Seven Partners." We should note, how- 
ever, that this union of the companies did 
not occur until the dispute with the Palatines 
was practically over. A large portion of that 
people had already retired from the valley, 
while those who remained had settled their 
minds to make the best of the situation with- 
out further contention. 



The Promised Land 235 

A curious item in the Land Papers is a 
" List of names to be inserted in the Patent 
for Lawyer's purchase at Schoharie, contain- 
ing by estimation about 40,000 acres." This 
bears date of June, 1723. It is impossible to 
identify such purchase, tho in the next few 
years purchases by Lawyers — all Palatines — 
are noted as being allowed by the government. 
The estimate of acreage is absurdly exagger- 
ated. But this, and the following records 
referred to, show the change of disposition 
towards the Palatines which had come to the 
gubernatorial mind after Hunter's depart- 
ure. 

From the grants given by Hunter, we per- 
ceive that all that portion of the valley occu- 
pied by the Palatines was so deeded away 
from them, that they could retain the meadows 
they had broken and the homes they had 
builded only by purchase or lease from a com- 
pany of land-grabbers. There were involved 
in this the most unscrupulous greed, and the 
most inexcusable oppression recorded of col- 
onial times. Had not Hunter's disappoint- 
ment and anger so blinded him, he could 
never have set his hand to instruments of 



236 The Palatines 

such injustice. So doing was altogether un- 
like his better self. 

The character of these transactions has 
rarely been understood. The Palatines have 
been represented as squatting on lands which 
did not belong to them, and refusing to pay 
either purchase-money or rent to the rightful 
owners. This is true only by a legal fiction. 
The Palatines should have been the legal 
owners. The legal title was originated by 
the Governor's patent, which should have 
issued to the Palatines. There was no reason, 
other than the Governor's will to harass that 
people, for the granting said patents to the 
five partners. They are also described as 
"riotous, turbulent, and rebellious," when in 
fact they were simply contending for the right 
to live as freemen. For fifteen years from 
the day of their landing on Nutten Island 
they were forced to struggle for their rights 
against tremendous odds. It is true that for 
the first two years the government subsisted 
them, but at the same time, while doling out 
this "charity" with one hand, the authorities 
were with the other pressing upon them with 
no little severity. In the end, the people 



The Promised Land 237 

never obtained what they regarded, and we 
also must regard, as their just due. Those 
who remained in Schoharie were compelled 
at last to purchase their titles from the 
partners, while the majority, wearying of 
the struggle and too high-spirited to yield to 
the demands of the usurpers, departed from 
the land which had broken its promise to 
their hope. 

There can be little doubt as to the rise of 
their trouble. So large a settlement as that 
at the Manor must have drawn the attention of 
the entire colony, a regard more interested 
because of the peculiar relation of the govern- 
ment to the settlers. When the "desiofn" 
broke down and this body of Palatines, at 
least seven hundred strong, passed up the river 
and through Albany, on their way to "the 
land of promise," curiosity was at once excited 
as to the quality of that valley which had exerted 
such magnetic power. The Palatines were 
the real openers of the valley and by going 
thither advertised it to the notice of the 
" Gentlemen at Albany," who early discovered 
both the Palatines' lack of title and the Gov- 
ernor's resentful temper. Thus the former 



238 The Palatines 

became an easy prey and the latter most sup- 
ple an instrument for their greed. One read- 
ing the disgraceful tale can but dwell upon the 
pity of the fact that, while the Governor could 
justly claim the protection and guidance of the 
Queen's command in all the business of the tar, 
he should so completely have forgotten her 
other command, to have special concern for 
"the comfort and advantage of the Palatines." 
In I 718, he made a statement of the situation, 
which he knew to be false, to the effect that 
the people " went and took possession of Lands 
granted to several persons at New York and 
Albany Against repeated Orders." This was 
written to the Board of Trade as an offset to 
the " Statement of Grievances," which Weiser 
had presented in petition to the king. Hardly 
any statement could be more disingenuous. 
Taken as Hunter meant it to be understood, 
it justified all the afflictions of the Palatines ; 
while taken as the succession of events re- 
quired, it condemned every action against 
them.* In the same letter the Governor says : 

" In compassion to the Innocent Women and children 
I prevailed with the proprietors of these lands to make 
* Doc. Hist., 'in., 422 ; Col. Hist., v., 509. 



The Promised Land 239 

them an offer of the Lands, free from all rent or ac- 
knowledgment for ten years, and ever after at a very- 
moderate Quit Rent. The Majority accepted the con- 
ditions, but durst not, or could not, execute the agree- 
ment for fear of the rest." 

The Governor then proposes to move the 
people again, and settle them " on a great 
tract of land, very remote on the Frontiers, 
formerly granted to Dominie Dellius, of fifty 
miles square, and resumed by Act of Assembly." 
Of this proposed removal we shall hear again. 
Meanwhile the " Five Partners " proceeded 
to assert their rights to the lands which the 
Palatines had occupied. They informed the 
poor people, that they had obtained the land 
from the Governor, and that all living upon it 
must either buy or lease their holdings, and 
that such as were unwillinof to do either must 
leave the valley altogether. The reply of the 
Palatines was that the lands of Schoharie had 
been set apart for them by Queen Anne, and 
that now it was the King's, and they could not 
"agree with any body about the King's land." 
This was sufficiently explicit, but not satisfac- 
tory to the " Gentlemen of Albany," who 
promptly made their appeal to the courts. 



240 The Palatines 

However inequitable or unjust their claim, yet 
their legal title was clearly defined, and the 
court could do no otherwise than to enforce it. 
In consequence of the orders of court, Sheriff 
Adams of Albany County, presently appeared 
in Schoharie, provided with appropriate legal 
documents, to summons the recusant settlers, 
to "affix papers on the land," and to arrest the 
more turbulent of the people. Among his 
papers was a special warrant, addressed to the 
Justices of the Counties of Albany and Dutch- 
ess, for the arrest of "John Conrade Wiser," 
who is described as " a Covenanted Servant 
of his Majesty, who has been Guilty of Sev- 
eral Mutinous, Riotous, and other disobedient 
and illegal practices, now skulking in your 
County to avoid punishment." 

It was unfortunate for the sheriff that he had 
not provided himself with a posse as well as 
with papers, for the people showed no respect 
for his papers, and in the absence of defenders 
wrought a very rough will upon him. 

The chief culprit, Weiser, had disappeared, 
but Adams undertook the arrest of the others. 
The first attempt, made at Weiser's dorp, 
brought on a riot in which the women took 



The Promised Land 241 

vigorous and leading part. Led by Magdalena 
Zeh, the women attacked the sheriff, knocked 
him down and beat him ; then they dragged 
him through the nastiest puddles of their barn- 
yards, and, putting him on a rail, " rode him 
skimington " through the settlements, a dis- 
tance of seven miles or more, and finally left 
him, with two broken ribs, on a bridge well 
out on the road to Albany. So tradition, as 
recorded by Sims, enters into detail. Very 
likely the story is exaggerated, tho so far 
as the female actors are concerned it may easily 
find belief. The Palatine women were stal- 
wart as the famous " women of Marblehead." 
It was no uncommon thing for them, while as 
yet for two or three years no mill was built 
at Schoharie, to carry on their backs their corn 
to the mill at Schenectady, going thither and 
returning in one day. 

When the sheriff returned to Albany and 
reported to the partners, they were at a loss 
for further proceedings which might be effect- 
ive. For a while they pursued a policy of 
silence and left the people unmolested, refrain- 
ing from further coercive measures until the 

Governor should come to Albany. This visit 

16 



242 The Palatines 

of Hunter was made in 171 7, for the double 
purpose of holding a conference with the In- 
dians and settling this business of the Pala- 
tines. He sent orders to Schoharie for a 
deputation of three men from each village to 
meet him at Albany, and particularly that 
Captain Weiser should be of the deputation. 
Inasmuch as the Governor had publicly said 
that he would hang Weiser, if he got hold of 
him, very naturally the captain did not present 
himself with the deputies. The others ap- 
peared before the Governor and were sharply 
rated for their refractory conduct. There is a 
series of three questions and answers very 
succinctly put in the Palatine Statement, which 
shows that in the encounter of wits they got 
the better of the Governor. 
He asked the deputies : 

1. Why they went to Schoharie without his 
orders ? 

2. Why they did not agree with the Gentle- 
men of Albany ? and 

3. Why they concerned themselves so much 
with the Indians ? 

To these the deputies replied : 

I. The Governor had told them to shift for 



The Promised Land 243 

themselves, and they were compelled to go 
somewhere and do something. 

2. The demands of the Albany Gentlemen 
were extravagant — while the Palatines had re- 
ceived the lands from the King. If they 
served anybody, it must be the King, and not 
private persons. 

3. It was necessary for them on that ex- 
posed frontier, to be in good terms with the 
Indians as a protection against the French and 
hostile Indians. 

Clearly the deputies had the best of the ar- 
gument, but this availed nothing with the 
Governor, who finished the hearing by sharply 
commanding them to either ao;ree with the 
Albany Gentlemen or leave the valley, and 
forbidding them to plow and sow the ground 
until the necessary agreement with the five 
partners had been made. With this the dep- 
uties returned to Schoharie and Hunter to New 
York. In the following winter — no agreement 
with the partners having been made — the peo- 
ple sent three men to New York to ask per- 
mission from the Governor to plow the lands 
in the coming spring. The "Statement" 
represents the Governor as replying to this 



244 The Palatines 

request, in a Pilate-like brevity, " What is 
said, is said." Then in its amusingly pathetic 
grandiose style, the account goes on : 

" This was a thunder-clap in the ears of their Wifes 
and children and the lamentation of all the people in- 
creased to such a hight, and their necessity grew so 
great, that they were forced for their own preservation 
to transgress those orders, and sow some summer corn 
and fruits or else they must have starved." 

There is in a letter of Sec'y Clarke to 
Mr. Walpole, written in November of 1722,* 
an almost open confession that in these and 
previous proceedings the Palatines had been 
treated with injustice. He refers to a form of 
certificate sent by Hunter, after his return to 
England, for the signatures of the Palatines. 
It will be remembered that one reason of 
Hunter's return home was that he might pros- 
ecute his claim for reimbursement for ad- 
vances on the Palatine account. There the 
Lords of the Treasury demanded as vouchers, 
not only the receipts of Livingston for the mon- 
eys paid, but the acknowledgment of the Pala- 
tines themselves, that they had been subsisted 
according to contract and the Queen's orders. 

* Doc. Hist., iii., 429. 



The Promised Land 245 

But such certificate they were, as the Secretary 
says, "most unwilling to sign, fearing new 
snares and contracts." He notes that a great 
many of them had already purchased land in 
Pennsylvania and were determined to go 
thither ; and concludes, " Thus the Brigadeer 
is baulked, and this province deprived of a 
good frontier of hardy and Laborious people. 
His claim is Just, his request reasonable, but 
that threatening manner of proceeding has in- 
jured him beyond expression." There can be 
no doubt that, had Hunter pursued a just 
course towards the Palatines, they would not 
have denied him the certificate demanded, and 
himself would have come nearer to just treat- 
ment by the Treasury. 

In the spring of 1718, when the people 
found themselves "forced to sow some sum- 
mer corn and fruits," they came to the conclu- 
sion that neither kindness nor justice was to 
be expected from the Governor or the Gentle- 
men of Albany, and that appeal must be made 
to a higher power. To this end they appointed 
three of their best men to go to London and 
lay their grievances before the King. Their 
statement, from which copious quotations have 



246 The Palatines 

already been made, was probably written by 
the elder Weiser. Tho amusing by its 
quaint turgidity and also overstrained by the 
bias of the writer, it gives marked token of 
intellectual power. No ignorant hand put 
together that effective document, which is 
both logical and graphic, and allowing for the 
exaggeration of style, adheres much more 
closely to the truth than did Governor Hunter. 
This appeal to the justice and kindness of 
King George was carried to London by Weiser, 
Scheff, and Walrath. These two companions 
of Weiser find mention only in connection 
with this mission. Walrath died in London, 
before the mission was completed. Scheff, 
after Walrath's death, quarrelled with Weiser 
and returned to America in 1721, and six 
months after his arrival died in New York 
city. 

The departure of the deputies from Scho- 
harie had to be by stealth. Probably Weiser 
had disappeared from the valley several months 
before, and was joined by his companions at 
some place on the route to Philadelphia. From 
that city they set sail for England ; but their 
ship had hardly issued from between the Capes, 



i 



The Promised Land 247 

when it was taken by " pirates." These seem 
to have been milder-mannered men than the 
average of the sea-rovers. They neither 
scuttled the ship nor cut a throat, preferring 
robbery without murder and wreck. They 
stripped the ship of everything valuable, leav- 
ing to its crew and passengers only clothing 
sufficient for their nakedness and food to sub- 
sist them until they could reach Boston. They 
took the money of the Palatine deputies, and, 
not regarding it as enough, triced up Weiser 
and scourged him to compel a confession of a 
hidden purse. This discipline was suffered 
three times, when at last the pirates were in- 
duced to believe Scheff 's tearful protestations, 
that the entire money of the company was in 
the purse taken from himself. When released 
by the robbers, the ship sailed to Boston and 
thence, being resupplied, resumed its voyage 
to England. Weiser and his companions 
reached London absolutely penniless. They 
sent home for such remittances as their friends 
could forward, and meanwhile had to live as 
best they could on kindness and credit. These 
did not stead them very long, the hoped-for 
supply of funds from America was delayed, 



248 The Palatines 

and the poor unfortunates were thrown Into 
the debtor's prison. There they suffered great 
misery, in the midst of which, and by force of 
which, Wahath died. To this also may be 
attributed the death of Scheff, a few months 
after his liberation. 

In their prison the deputies found means of 
reaching the ears of the authorities on the 
matters of their mission. Their petition was 
presented to the government and, apparently, 
was referred to the Lords of Trade for con- 
sideration and the advisement of the Kinof. 
In response the Board of Trade made a com- 
ment of some length.* They recite that, un- 
der the terms of settlement, the Palatines were 
" to be maintained at her Majesty's expense 
until so settled as to provide for themselves." 
Then alluding to the failure of the experiment, 
the protesting of Hunter's bills, and the dis- 
persion of the Palatines, they state that " they 
settled themselves in a riotous manner on 
lands belonging to other persons." Thus the 
false representations of Hunter had found cre- 
dence — and most naturally — in the minds of 
the Lords of Trade, and were final in the non- 

* Col, Hist., v., 601. 



i 



The Promised Land 249 

suiting of the Palatines. By the time, also, 
that their petition came up for hearing, 
Hunter* himself was in England and, tho he 
had not influence enough to secure justice for 
himself, he was able to confirm the injustice of 
his own treatment of the poor people, whom 
" the Queen's clemency " had committed to his 
care, with the strict charge that everything 
should be done " with a view to the comfort of 
the poor Palatines." Destitute of all friends 
at court and without means to procure talents 
to plead their cause, it was inevitable that the 
mere statement of the poor debtors, languish- 
ing in prison, should be light as air in the 
scales against the assertion of so high a ser- 
vant of the crown as the Governor of the prov- 
ince, who, we may readily believe, did not 
fail to embellish his narrative with a descrip- 
tion of the riotous and rebellious character of 
the Palatines. His influence was fatal to the 
petition. There is some satisfaction to the 
reader's sense of poetic justice in the reflection, 
that the very means with which the Governor 
effected this oppression of the people, proved 
the knife which cut the throat of his own 

* Col. Hist., v., 552. 



250 The Palatines 

hopes. The crisis of his own cause turned 
against him through the lack of their testi- 
mony. 

The long-delayed remittances from America 
at last arriving, the surviving deputies were 
liberated from prison. Shortly afterwards 
Scheff parted from Weiser and addressed an 
independent petition to the Board of Trade.* 
He recites the same facts as the former state- 
ment, tho in less ambitious style and with 
some added items of interest. He says that 
there are "about 160 families, and about 
1000 souls at Schoharie . . . they had 
built huts, houses, and mills, improved the 
ground, and had made a road about 24 miles 
to Albany." He further says that there were 
about five hundred Palatine families, or three 
thousand souls, in the province, and asks that 
"they all be settled above, below, or round 
about the valley of Schorie." Then he pro- 
tests against the patents given for the Scho- 
harie lands as acts of bad faith, in the following 
words : 

" And considering that the grant of the valley of 
Schorie, supposed to be given to some Gentlemen of Al- 

* Col. Hist., v., 557. 



The Promised Land 251 

bany, having been made some time after the said Germans 
had seated themselves thereon, at first to one and after- 
wards to two other persons, was, as they humbly conceive, 
against the Plantation Laws, for the truth of which they 
humbly appeal to the proceedings of the Assembly of 
the Province, and those of the Governor and Council." 

Here Scheff exposes the real nature of the 
wrong. He also deprecates removal from 
Schoharie on account of the unavoidable ex- 
posure of the women and children to the dan- 
gers of another transportation. If, however, 
they are to be removed, he claims that they 
should receive compensation for the better- 
ments made by them in the valley. 

Having lodged this petition, Scheff returned 
homeward, broken both in spirit and in health. 
Weiser remained in London two years longer, 
apparently " hoping against hope " that he 
might yet in some way secure an influence, b}^ 
which relief could come for his people and him- 
self. It was not until 1723, after five years of 
sojourn in London, in the midst of great suf- 
fering, that he finally gave up the struggle and 
returned to America. 

Meanwhile, during his absence, the people 
had remained at Schoharie. They "continued 



252 The Palatines 

to improve the land," they plowed and planted 
and reaped, not much molested by the " Part- 
ners," who were biding their time, but conscious 
that their tenure was very slight, destitute of 
any rights of freehold which the law could 
sustain. For a lono- time after the maltreat- 
ment of the sheriff they were very "shy" of 
Albany. Sims states that the men of the 
valley would not go to Albany on any business, 
and sent the women thither for salt and other 
such necessities, themselves venturing to the 
city only upon Sundays, when they supposed 
that process could not be served upon them. 
After some months, however, during which the 
partners had made no sign, the people began 
to think that the trouble had blown over and 
that the violence to the sheriff was forgotten. 
So thinking, a party of the men went to Albany 
on a week-day, and were promptly arrested and 
thrown into oraol. The chargfes aofainst them 
were of riot and trespassing. There seems 
to have been no pretence of a trial, the arrest 
being simply a means of coercion by the part- 
ners, to compel the settlers to acknowledge their 
title. The prisoners, among whom was young 
Conrad Weiser, were kept in gaol for several 



The Promised Land 253 

days, and finally released on the agreement of 
most of them to acknowledge the title of the 
Albany Gentlemen, and to take their holdings 
at Schoharie, either by purchase or on lease. 
This scored the first victory of the partners, 
and in moral effect on the Palatines it was com- 
plete. It broke the front of opposition by 
the people, and made the enforcement of the 
legal claim upon the lands a hundred-fold easier. 
The spirit of resistance was curbed by this 
defection, and the poor people realized at last 
that they must yield to the stronger. 

There seems to have obtained in some minds 
a disproportionate idea of the discontent and 
disorder of the Palatines, which, unless they 
were guilty of lawless actions not recorded, is 
quite unjustified. The treatment given to 
Adams stands alone in violent character. In 
all the rest of the story — their enemies being 
recorders — the movements of opposition were 
simply the refusal of manly spirits to submit 
to oppressive and unjust demands. The re- 
fusal was made the more sturdy by a con- 
sciousness of constant fraud in the action of 
governmental agents towards them. Dr. 
Homes comments on their "discontent," as 



254 The Palatines 

though it were blameworthy. But on a faith- 
ful presentation of the facts there is room for 
wonder, that their discontent did not receive 
a more frequent and more violent expression. 
Certainly, nothing in their conduct, other 
than the incident of the sheriff's experience, 
could justify the following language of 
Hunter : 

" They might be usefully employed there [Schoharie], 
but there must be a Fort or two, as well to cover them 
as to keep thein in order, which I know to be a hard 
task by dear bought experience, and this will require an 
augmentation of our Forces."* 

Near the end of Hunter's term, on the 
request of the Board of Trade, a census of the 
Palatines was made, the Governor having 
applied to the two clergymen, Kockerthal and 
Hager, to procure the statistics. They re- 
ported in 1 718 — that the numbers in the Prov- 
ince of New York were as follows — 

East side of Hudson River. .126 Families : 499 Persons. 

West side of the River 68 " 372 " 

New York city 30 " 150 " 

"Skohare" 170 " 680 

Total, 394 " 1601 
♦ Col. Hist. V. 509. 



The Promised Land 255 

The reverend census-takers state that this 
enumeration does not include the widows and 
orphans ! — a somewhat curious fact, which 
gives room for questioning the correctness of 
their "hst" in other particulars. We may 
suppose that Scheff's statement of the num- 
ber as three thousand is above the truth. But 
this estimate given to Hunter must have been 
equally below it. Considering that not less 
than twenty-five hundred were landed on Nut- 
ten Island in 1 710, unless there was an unusual 
and unrecorded m.ortality among the people, 
the natural increase would have made them 
at least hold their own in numbers. They 
were a prolific people, and children were plen- 
tiful in their homes. An interesting record 
states that within the first fortnight after reach- 
ing Schoharie, the houses of Earhart, Lawyer, 
and Bouck were enriched by births. Of these 
three names two are still well known in the 
valley to-day. Certainly, we cannot be far 
wrong when estimating the Palatine population 
at Schoharie as above eight hundred. Nearly 
seven hundred composed the immigration of 
1 71 2-13. In six years the children born and 
the excepted widows and orphans could hardly 



256 The Palatines 

fail of bringing the total to the suggested 
number. This was a large company to be 
settled together " on the frontier," and the 
fancy can paint a glowing picture of what 
plenty and prosperity, what commercial growth 
and power might have ensued, had this people 
been suffered to remain unmolested together, 
to work out a destiny for themselves and this 
valley of their promise and delight. 

But that was not to be. Fully two thirds of 
the people went forth, making for them a third 
migration, to seek yet other homes. Those 
who remained preferred submission to further 
unsettlement. But this large majority could 
not be content to buy from the hand of the 
oppressor what they knew to be morally their 
own. 

As we recall the frequent expression of their 
hope when they set out for America ; the con- 
stancy, like that of the needle to the pole, with 
which their thought regarded " the promised 
land of Schorie " ; and the elation with which 
they passed within the embrace of its glorious 
hills, — entering the kingdom through much 
tribulation, — we can understand something of 
the tenacity of their ten years' struggle against 



The Promised Land 257 

their foes, and something of the pang with 
which they turned their backs on "Schorie." 
Poetry and art have done their best to depict 
the sorrows of Acadia and its exiled people. 
And there was, indeed, a tragic quality to their 
experience, an intrusion of ruthless and brutal 
force, which are lacking happily from the Story 
of the Palatines. Thus there was a dignity in 
the sufferings of the poor Acadians, which also 
is lacking in the lot of the Palatines. And yet 
the latter suffered, if not so severely, certainly 
as wrongfully. Somehow — no one can explain 
it — to suffer at the bidding of military neces- 
sity adds honor to the pangs ; while they, who 
are the helpless victims of spite and greed, 
seem to be smirched with the baseness of their 
foes, and to appeal in vain to the sympathies 
of history. 




CHAPTER VII. 



THE DISPERSION. 

THE beginning of the dispersion and final 
migrations of these people is found in 
the instruction of the Board of Trade 
to Governor Burnett, shortly after his coming 
to New York. Sec'y Popple's letter, dated 
29 Nov. 1720, directed the Governor to "set- 
tle those among the Palatines, who behave 
themselves with due submission to His Ma- 
jesty's authority and are destitute of means of 
subsistence, upon such convenient lands as are 
not already disposed of." Possibly the peti- 
tion of Weiser did so much of good as to con- 
vince the government that, if they could not 
right the wrongs of the Palatines, they must 
at least find them a place of unmolested habi- 
tation. 

Burnett's thought,* as he wrote to London, 

* Col. Hist., v., 634. 
253 



The Dispersion 259 

v/as to settle them " in the middle of our In- 
dians. But they could not be brought to that. 
I have granted their request to pur- 
chase of the Mohocks." This so pleased them 
that " all who did live in a lawless manner on 
the Land of Schokerry, which had been granted 
to other proprietors, have now actually taken 
leases and attorned Tenants." Evidently, the 
Governor, in his desire to report the establish- 
ment of peace, was not conscious of the absurd- 
ity of this statement. If the recalcitrant people 
had all taken leases at Schoharie, the need of 
any purchases among the "Mohocks" could 
not have been very pressing. Undoubtedly, 
the mood of Burnett was much more amicable 
towards the Palatines than was that of Hunter, 
tho it is clear that the statements of the latter 
had moulded his opinions as to the character 
of the people and the situation. Weiser 
writes : 

"The new Governor felt like conciliating the disaf- 
fected, but they were nevertheless obliged to see their 
best acres abandoned, or retained at enormous prices. 
Some made a virtue of necessity and fell in with the new 
order, even at the expense of their manhood. Others 
would rather scatter here and there over the Province." 



26o The Palatines 

The " Land Papers " show that under this 
pressure the minds of many of the people were 
turned towards the Mohawk valley as the only 
way of escape. In the year 1722 various rec- 
ords were made of petitions for license to pur- 
chase land on the Mohawk, of warrants of 
survey, of Indian deeds, and of drafts of 
patents given to Palatines. We do not need 
to particularize in detail. One grant issued 
to Garlock, whose petition for Schoharie land 
had failed ; another to Conrad Weiser, Jun. ; 
and yet another to Hartman Vinedecker, one 
of the chiefs from whose first name the name 
of Hartman's dorp was made. Several of 
these permits recite often the names of the 
principals, " and other distressed Palatines," 
which may perhaps suggest some slight com- 
punctions of the official conscience as to the 
distresses of that people. One license permits 
young Weiser to " purchase in the Mohawks 
country, three miles distant from any part of 
the Mohawks river," — and this might suggest 
a desire, on the Governor's part, that so trouble- 
some a stock as that of Weiser might be put 
off into the woods and as far as possible from 
the natural channels of communication. One 



The Dispersion 261 

of the Indian deeds is much more Hberal, 
ceding to the same Weiser lands stretching 
" westerly 24 miles on Mohawk's River to Gan- 
endagaran [Canajoharie ?], on both sides of 
the river, and [north and south] as far as said 
Palatin or High Dutchmen, please." 

To these various warrants and licenses Bur- 
nett alludes when he writes — November 21, 
1722 : "I have given them leave to purchase 
land from the Indians, between the present 
English settlements near Fort Hunter and 
part of Canada [?], on a creek called Canada 
Creek." He defines this leave as given to 
" about sixty families, who desired to be in a 
distinct tract from the rest, and were those 
who all along had been most hearty for the 
government." This latter statement is another 
of Burnett's absurdities, for those who were 
most submissive and hearty to the government 
had contented themselves in taking leases in 
Schoharie. 

Burnett sees much value in planting the 
Palatines on the Mohawk, as they will there 
be "a barrier against sudden incursions of the 
French, who made this their road when they 
last attacked and burned the Frontier town 



262 The Palatines 

called Schonectady." In this letter Burnett 
speaks very disparagingly of the Palatines. " I 
find very little gratitude for favors done them." 
Under all the circumstances this is explicable, 
without reflecting severely on their character. 
Evidently, the Governor was somewhat vexed. 
He had gone up to Albany about this and 
other business, and had expected, as he wrote 
in this same letter, 

" to fix the Palatines in their new settlements which I 
had obtained of the Indians [!] at a very late purchase, 
but I found them very much divided into Parties. They 
said that the lands were not enough, the cunningest 
among them fomenting their Divisions, in order that 
the greatest number might leave the Province, and then 
the great Tract of Land lately purchased would make 
so many considerable estates to the few Families that 
should remain. . . . This is managed by a few cunning 
persons who lead the rest as they please, who are for the 
generality a laborious and honest, but headstrong and 
ignorant, people." 

Burnett seems to have possessed an invent- 
ive mind ; and yet this letter is not consistent 
with itself. Nor is it consistent with the fact 
that " the cunningest among them," such as 
Weiser and Vinedecker, did not go to that 
** great Tract" at all. They tarried yet a while 



The Dispersion 263 

in Schoharie and then themselves, not their 
dupes, left the province altogether and went 
into Pennsylvania. 

The origin of that migration to Pennsylvania 
has some connection with the other business 
which brought Burnett to Albany in 1722. 
That was attendance at one of the frequent 
councils with the Indians. Albany was the 
point at which the negotiations with the 
friendly tribes were carried on, the scene of 
many a long palaver, and the emporium of 
the Indian trade. Here was the official resi- 
dence of the provincial Secretary for Indian 
affairs, and hither came the Governor to meet 
his " Brothers " of the tribes in solemn con- 
clave. The Council of this year was of more 
than usual importance, because of movements 
and agreements among the Indians, by which 
the tribes beyond the borders of New York 
were affected. This larg-er interest and im- 
portance of the Council drew to its delibera- 
tions, not only the Governor of New York, 
but also Sir William Keith, the Governor of 
Pennsylvania. While at Albany Keith be- 
came acquainted with the Palatine affairs. 
Probably Burnett discoursed to him of the 



264 The Palatines 

trouble they had given to Hunter and himself, 
and some of the leading Palatines told him of 
their afflictions and unrest. In whatever way 
Keith may have been informed, he was moved 
to compassion towards the distressed people, 
and offered to them an asylum from all perse- 
cution in his own province. Weiser * says 
that he, "hearing of the unrest of the Germans, 
lost no time to inform them of the freedom and 
justice accorded to their countrymen in Penn- 
sylvania." 

This "afforded" alludes to the kindly re- 
ception already given to immigrants from the 
Palatinate directly to Pennsylvania. In 1 7 1 7 f 
five years before the visit of Keith to Albany, 
and while the Schoharie troubles were at their 
height, three ship-loads of Palatines were 
landed at Philadelphia. The captains of the 
ships reported their arrival, furnished a list of 
their passengers, and, as though aware that 
such an influx was unusual for both numbers 
and nationality, requested from the council 
permission to land the people. This was at 
once given, while the names of the immigrants 
were put on record and are still preserved, 

*■ Life of IVeiser, p. 28. \Pcnu. Col. Records, iii., 2y. 



The Dispersion 265 

together with the names of over thirty thou- 
sand of their countrymen from the Palatinate 
and other parts of Germany, who during the 
next thirty years came from the old country 
directly to Pennsylvania. The peculiarity of 
this record of names consists in the fact, that 
such was not kept of other immigrants into 
that province. We may suppose that the un- 
usual nationality of this first company, or its 
numbers (363), suggested the propriety of the 
record ; the continuance of which was regarded 
as important, because of the volume of the 
incoming during the next three decades. For 
whatever reason caused, the Palatines in Penn- 
sylvania have this distinction, — that they alone 
among the early settlers of that commonwealth 
have, name by name, their place in the records 
of the colony. 

There can be little doubt that the change 
of direction on the part of this company of 
1 71 7 from New York to Philadelphia, was due 
to the report of tribulations sent home by the 
Palatines of the Manor and Schoharie. The 
treatment they had received, the harsh service, 
and the unrelenting persistence which denied 
a foothold, convinced the newcomers that 



266 The Palatines 

New York Vv^ould not afford them hospitable 
welcome or happy homes. So they bethought 
them of the invitation sent to the oppressed 
in Europe, thirty years before, by William 
Penn, offering a welcome refuge in his new 
colony in America. They sailed directly to 
Philadelphia from Rotterdam, touching neither 
at any English port nor at New York. So 
doing, they became more successful pioneers 
for their countrymen than were the settlers 
on the Hudson and the Schoharie. After 
their experiences no company of Palatines 
came of their own accord to New York. To 
this there is one apparent exception. 

In 1722* a single ship with a large com- 
pany of people arrived at New York, having 
"touched in England" on the way from Hol- 
land. But its going thither may be set down 
as compulsory, by reason of general and 
severe sickness on board. The inspecting 
physicians reported to the Governor and 
Council that there was no " Contagious Dis- 
temper on Board the said Vessell," but sug- 
gested that the "quantity of Cloaths may have 
contracted Noisome Smells," because of the 

* Doc. Hist., iii., 428. 



The Dispersion 267 

large number of the sick and " the Length of 
the Voyage." So it was ordered by the Gov- 
ernor and Council that no person from the 
ship should "come on Shoar on this Island 
[N. Y.] with any Cloaths, Chests or other 
furniture till the same have been thoroughly 
air'd upon Nutton Island during the space of 
six hours at least." 

On this ship, it may be noted in passing, 
were four men of the name of Erghimer, the 
son of one of whom, to the glory of the New 
York Palatines, was Nicholas Herkimer, the 
hero of Oriskany. With this one exception 
of a ship probably carried out of its intended 
course, all the Palatine immigrations after 
1 710 landed at Philadelphia. And it is well 
to note that, so large was the Palatine element 
in these immigrations, all the natives of other 
German States, coming with them, were called 
by the same name. Thus, though the Pala- 
tinate covered but a small portion of the 
German Empire, yet for forty years in Penn- 
sylvania nomenclature all Germans were Pala- 
tines. 

It should be noted here that, previous to the 
migration from Schoharie and the consequent 



268 The Palatines 

large influx directly from the old country, sev- 
eral companies of Germans had come to Penn- 
sylvania. Most of them were small bands of 
religionists, whose peculiar views made life a 
burden to them in the fatherland. So early as 
1685 a band of Mennonites settled at German- 
town, giving the spot its name. About the 
same time Labadists from Frieseland settled 
in Newcastle County, Delaware, then a part 
of Pennsylvania. Ten years after, Kelpius 
brought a company of Pietists and settled them 
on the Wissahickon ; and in 1719 a band of 
Dunkers settled in Germantown by the side of 
the Mennonites. Other religious sects were 
added in the next few years, — the Newborn, the 
Disciples of Ephrata, and the Schwenkfelders, 
closing the list with the large and beneficent 
incoming of the Moravians, which began in 
1 735.* About 1 705 or 1712, came to Philadel- 
phia that distinct company of Germans, who 
passed over into New Jersey, having New 
York as their objective, but were so charmed 
by the rolling lands of Morris County that 
they quietly took possession. f 

* Mellick's Sto>y of an Old Farm ; Sachse's German Pietists of 
Pennsylvania ; Rupp's Collection. \ See page 60. 



The Dispersion 269 

It is probable that this last-mentioned com- 
pany were Palatines. If in 171 2, they may 
have landed at Philadelphia instead of New 
York by stress of storm, having in mind to 
join their countrymen on the Hudson, of 
whose hard fortunes they had not yet heard. 
It is not unlikely that the tidings of those 
afflictions, met on their journey overland, made 
them all the more ready to yield to the attrac- 
tions of the Jersey hills. But, except for this 
and the immigration of 171 7 already noted, it 
is impossible to connect any of these other com- 
panies with the Palatines. They came from 
other parts of Germany and from diverse mo- 
tives. At the same time it is clear that the 
immense tide of German immigration, which 
after 1720 set into Pennsylvania, was domi- 
nantly Palatine, and was controlled as to its 
destination by the kindly treatment received 
by its forerunners at the hands of the Quakers. 

Governor Keith could truthfully tell the men 
of Schoharie that their countrymen had been 
"afforded freedom and justice" in his pro- 
vince. The bands of religionists had been in 
no way molested. The immigrants of 171 7 
also had been received with the utmost kind- 



270 The Palatines 

ness, and the people had been allowed to choose 
their places of residence. The most of them 
settled about sixty miles west of Philadelphia, 
and were subjected to no other trials than 
those incident to a new settlement in the forest 
in the vicinage of capricious Indians. This 
invitation of Keith found open ears with many 
of the Palatines at Schoharie, whose formal 
petition to Governor Keith and the Assembly 
of Pennsylvania was soon forwarded to Phila- 
delphia. * The petition was from fifteen (heads 
of family ?) at Schoharie, who recited in brief 
their experiences since leaving Europe, stated 
that they had heard of the generous treatment 
shown to their countrymen in Pennsylvania, 
and prayed that lands might be set aside for 
them on the Tulpehocken, which lands they 
declared themselves ready and able to pur- 
chase. This petition was not immediately 
acted on by the Assembly, but it appears f from 
a similar petition presented three years after- 
ward, and after the first company from Scho- 
harie had already come into Pennsylvania, that 
the immigration thither was with the full con- 
sent of the authorities. The fact that the 

* Rupp's Berks Co., Fa., p. 98. f Penn. Col, Records., iii., 322. 



The Dispersion 271 

presence of the people was on invitation of 
Keith is noted by the Assembly, and steps are 
taken towards satisfying the claims of Chief 
Sassouan, who had protested against the oc- 
cupancy of the Tulpehocken lands. 

These various statements show that in 1723 
the settlers at Schoharie were divided in three 
parts. The one resolved to remain in the val- 
ley at the cost of whatever " agreement " they 
could make with the usurpers of their lands. 
The others could not bring themselves to sub- 
mit to such humiliating conditions, and "girded 
up their loins " for a third removal — one part 
of them to the Mohawk, and the rest into 
Pennsylvania. Of the numbers in these several 
sections of the people it is impossible to speak 
with any exactness. 

Probably about three hundred remained in 
Schoharie. Their life there was uneventful, 
so far as any incident is presented for record 
here. For the most part, having made terms 
with the patentees, they were suffered to live 
out their lives in peace. Occasionally roving 
bands of Indians extended their depredating 
tours into the valley, but, happily for the set- 
tlers, its secluded situation, southward from the 



272 The Palatines 

great Indian thoroughfare along the Mohawk 
and sheltered among the mountains, saved 
them from the refluent tide of war, which so 
often for thirty years made the Mohawk and 
the northern country a bloody ground. In the 
Revolution, Brandt with his Indians and Eng- 
lish allies went down the valley. He made a 
sharp attack on the fort at Middleburgh, and 
was beaten off, and left as memento of his 
raid a cannon ball in the freize of the old Stone 
Church at Fox's dorp, which still can be seen 
by the visitor of historic taste, held fast in the 
spot where Brandt placed it. Much romance 
finds its home in the valley, and many tales of 
adventure are related of Murphy, the Indian 
fighter, whom Brown styles the " Benefactor 
of Schoharie." The Schoharie people were a 
quiet folk, content to farm their lands and ed- 
ucate their children, and have left no special 
marks upon the history of the State, save in the 
person and life of William C. Bouck, a man 
of very considerable ability, of direct Palatine 
descent, who held various public ofifices of 
trust and honor from the State, and served 
with dignity as its governor from 1843-45. 
There was in vogue, some forty years ago, the 



The Dispersion 273 

bye-word, " Ignorant as a Schoharie Dutch- 
man." How this shghting comparison origi- 
nated it is hard to tell, but there is no doubt 
of its injustice, for it can be successfully main- 
tained that, for general intelligence, sobriety, 
probity, and industry the villages on the Scho- 
harie were not a whit behind the average rural 
community of New York State. 

We turn now to the Mohawk, whither mi- 
grated at least a third of the Palatines of Scho- 
harie, to whose number were added many from- 
the solitary ship which arrived in New York 
in 1 722, among them the families of Erghimer. 
The leader of the men from Schoharie was 
EHas Garloch, one of the seven chiefs or dep- 
uties, who came as prospectors from the Manor. 
He was the head of Garloch's dorp in the val- 
ley, and, as already noted, had unsuccessfully 
applied for a patent in Schoharie. While in 
Schoharie he occupied the position of magis- 
trate, either by appointment from Albany or 
by choice of his countrymen. One of the 
many whose sense of right and manhood would 
not permit them to make any composition with 
the unjust patentees, he resolved to give up the 
long-cherished hope which had made Schoharie 



2 74 The Palatines 

as a land of promise, to abandon the home he 
had built and the improvements made through 
twelve years' labor in the valley, and set out 
again to find still another settlement. 

Of course, Garloch was not singular in this 
feeling and resolution. At least two thirds of 
the eight hundred people in Schoharie were in 
perfect sympathy and agreed with him therein.- 
This fact is notable. And this is not to be 
explained by any supposition of an unreason- 
able and unruly spirit. Such explanation 
would be reasonable for the wayward conduct 
of a mere handful of men. But it will not do 
for two thirds of a community, to the number 
of five hundred and more. For eight years the 
question had been mooted, the patentees had 
asserted their claim, and offered easy terms of 
settlement, so that some among the Palatines 
were seduced into compliance. But to these 
terms this great majority had returned only a 
stubborn negative, They refused to either 
lease or buy the lands which, in all justice, 
were their own. The lands were cheap 
enough. They could secure titles to them at 
less cost than the expense of removing else- 
where, but in no way would they admit the 



The Dispersion 275 

claim of the patentees. When after these 
years of quiet struggle, in which occurred but 
one outbreak, they found that permanent settle- 
ment in Schoharie was only possible at the 
loss of self-respect, they set out for other 
dwelling-places. It was not done "in a pet," 
nor in disorder, but in the quietness of de- 
termined resistance to wrong. Such is the 
only proper understanding of their course. 
Some have flippantly spoken of it as ignorant 
and stubborn. Ignorant these people cer- 
tainly were not, but had clear view both of 
right and truth. As to stubbornness, theirs 
was of the same sort as that which emptied 
the tea chests into the waters of Boston harbor. 
We have already noted the fact that war- 
rants of survey and for patents of land in the 
" Mohawks country " had been issued to Gar- 
loch, Winedecker, Weiser, and others before 
1723. Of these three only the first entered 
upon the land so granted, the attention of 
Winedecker and Weiser having been turned 
towards Pennsylvaina. In the latter part of 
1725 a patent was issued for lands on the 
Mohawk, "twenty-four miles westerly from 
Little Falls, on both sides of the river," to 



276 The Palatines 

William Burnett and others. This Burnett 
was undoubtedly the Governor and the 
"others" were Palatines, ninety-two of whom 
are named in the instrument. We understand 
that these ninety-two were mainly heads of 
families, so that this migration must have in- 
cluded over three hundred persons. The 
patent is called the Burnetsfield patent, from 
the name of the Governor, the inclusion of 
which in the instrument was for some purpose 
not mentioned. Certainly, he made no claim 
of personal title to these lands, to the distress 
of the Palatines, after the manner of the five 
partners in Schoharie. His purpose in associat- 
ing himself with the Palatines in this patent 
was, probably, with a view of facilitating the 
partition of the lands among the settlers. 
The patent recites that " one hundred acres 
were to be given to each person, man, woman, 
and child." This amount was a free grant, 
subject only to the usual quit-rent to the crown. 
In addition to this, others, like Garloch and 
Eckaard, had independent patents and were 
able to purchase lands beyond. 

To this region the people removed in 1725- 
26, and made new homes which, happily, were 



The Dispersion 277 

to be permanent, and gave to various localities 
the names which to-day testify of their posses- 
sion. For twenty-five or thirty miles the Mo- 
hawk is to-day a Palatine, or German, river. 
A glance at the map will show how true this 
is, with its names of towns which this people 
knew in the fatherland, monuments of their 
early possession and settlement. Thus the 
two towns of Palatine and Palatine Bridge 
show clearly the source of their names. 
Mannheim, Oppenheim, Newkirk, and others 
are as clearly marked with a German origin. 
The level meadows, unsurpassed for fertility, 
stretching along the south side of the Mohawk, 
are still known as the German Flats, while 
over against them on the north side was the 
settlement, which in after-years received the 
name of Herkimer, from the bluff General, the 
most celebrated among the Palatines of the 
Mohawk. And not only on the river, but for 
long distances on either side remain like tokens 
of this permanent German possession. 

For thirty years the people had undisputed 
occupancy and were unmolested, so that they 
enjoyed a long period of rest and peace and 
prosperity, after the toils and afflictions expe- 



278 The Palatines 

rienced in the old country and, as well also, 
for fifteen years in the new.* "The people 
were seated on as fertile a spot as any in the 
State. They had good buildings on their 
farms and were generally rich." Upon all 
this prosperity, however, came that ruin which 
visited and destroyed so many of the frontier 
towns durinor the French and Indian War. 
In November, 1757, occurred the raid of M. 
de Belletre, whose force, composed of 300 
Indians and Canadians, came up the Black 
River valley, and emerging from the mountain 
forests, fell without warning on all the Pala- 
tine settlements on the north side of the 
Mohawk. They made a clean sweep, burning 
every building — alike the houses of the people 
and the barns stuffed with the gathered crops, 
while most of the stock, horses, cattle, sheep, 
and swine were killed. Some of the people 
were slain and nearly one hundred carried off 
as prisoners. The majority of the people 
saved themselves by flight, crossing the river 
and seeking refuge in the fort on the south 
side. The enemy did not pursue, but busying 
themselves with the work of destruction, retired 

* Benton's Herkitner Co., p. 58. 



The Dispersion 279 

at nightfall with their booty and their prisoners, 
satisfied for that occasion. 

But this satisfaction lasted only until the 
following spring. In April of 1758, another 
band of marauders, composed of a small num- 
ber of French and a much larger body of 
Indians, attacked the settlements on the south 
side of the river. This party did not succeed 
in approaching the settlements with entire 
surprise. Warning was in some way given, 
and Captain Herchamer"^ — the future Gene- 
ral — who was in command of the fort, was able 
to collect behind its defences the great major- 
ity of the settlers. The attack on the fort 
failed, but the invading force killed thirty of 
the Palatines and rivalled, in the destruction of 
the unprotected farmsteads, their comrades' 
work of the preceding autumn. 

In the following year the fall of Quebec, 
and the coincident collapse of the French 
power in America, brought peace to the much- 
suffering frontiers. The Palatines were able 
to rebuild their houses and barns. The cap- 
tives returned, and prosperity came back again 

* Note the evolution of the name : Erghimer, Herchamer, Her- 
kimer. 



28o The Palatines 

to stay. In all this period this people were 
notable for their bravery and devotion. From 
the settlements stretching from the Flats to 
Palatine a sturdy body of yeomanry was or- 
ganized in nine companies by Sir William 
Johnson, who counted much upon them for 
his measures of defence during the French 
War. In the after-struggles of the colonies 
with England, they were very patriotic, and 
resolutely refused to be drawn away by Guy 
Johnson to the cause of the King. They were 
described as "very hearty in the present strug- 
gles for American liberty." In all the dis- 
tricts of Tryon County committees of Public 
Safety were appointed, and among them, says 
Benton, the committees of Palatine and Cana- 
joharie seem to have taken the initiative and 
the lead. Guy Johnson, recognizing the 
strength to the royal cause which would come 
by winning over these people, did his utmost 
to secure their defection from the popular 
cause. To all his appeals and arguments the 
Palatines were deaf, and in a formal letter, 
delivered by Nicholas Herkimer and Edward 
Wahl,* " announced their resolution of stand- 

* Benton's Herkimer Co., p. 68. 



The Dispersion 281 

ing by the country until all grievances were 
redressed." On receipt of this letter Johnson 
perceived that all present occupation for him 
in the Mohawk valley was gone, and retired to 
Canada. Thence in 1777, he came with St. 
Leger, only to turn back again after the baf- 
fling victory of the Oriskany. How bravely 
and stanchly the Palatines maintained their 
resolution that battle shows. To them and to 
their brave Herkimer, whose life was there 
forfeit to his glory, belongs large credit of 
making possible the supreme victory of Sara- 
toga, by which was ended the struggle for the 
Hudson, and the vital union of the northern 
colonies secured. 

It only remains to narrate the fortunes of 
the migration to Pennsylvania. The MSS. of 
the younger Weiser state that "the people 
got news of lands on the Swatara and Tulpe- 
hocken." In what way such news reached 
them he does not tell, but it is not at all im- 
probable that the locality was suggested as ap- 
propriate by the hospitable Keith. Certainly, 
the tidings proved attractive, and together 
with the Governor's invitation opened a way 
of escape from the toils of Schoharie. To 



282 The Palatines 

many of them it was far more desirable than 
any new location within the province of New 
York. The experiences of the people in New 
York and the disposition of the authorities 
towards them were of such a character, that at 
least a third of the Schoharie population read- 
ily embraced the first opportunity of establish- 
ment beyond the jurisdiction of the colony in 
which they had found such troubles. This we 
may take as accounting for the sudden change 
of plan on the part of Vinedecker and Weiser, 
both of whom had obtained licences for land 
on the Mohawk and were preparing to remove 
thither. On the opening of this new prospect 
into the colony of Pennsylvania, they either 
abandoned or transferred to others their rights 
under these licences, and began to arrange for 
a departure to the southward. About sixty 
families, or about three hundred persons, went 
from Schoharie to the Tulpehocken region. 
This migration, however, was not in one body, 
the first detachment starting in the spring of 
1723, not more than eight months after the in- 
vitation by Governor Keith, and the rest in 
1728. 

The leader of the first company was Hart- 



The Dispersion 283 

man Vinedecker, the head of Hartman's dorp, 
whom ahiiost his entire village followed into 
Pennsylvania. The emigrants ascended the 
Schoharie for a few miles, and then under the 
conduct of an Indian guide crossed the moun- 
tains southwestwardly to the upper waters of 
the Susquehanna. On the bank of this river 
they constructed canoes for the carriage of the 
most of their number, with the women and 
children and furniture. In these canoes, while 
some of the men drove the horses and cattle 
on the land, the majority of the party floated 
down the Susquehanna so far as to the mouth 
of the Swatara. Turning into this stream they 
followed its upward course, until in the region 
of hills and vales and fertile meadow-lands, in 
which both the Swatara and Tulpehocken have 
their rise, they found at last the object of their 
journey and a place of permanent habitation. 
To their first settlement they gave the name 
of Heidelberg, and thence sent back word to 
their friends at Schoharie of the prosperous 
issue of the journey. Sims has a curious tale 
— gathered from some unknown source, and 
hardly capable of proof or credence — that, 
some months afterwards, twelve of the horses 



284 The Palatines 

of this company found their own way back to 
the Schoharie valley. The memory of the 
sweet clover on the " clawver wy " — the flats 
on the Little Schoharie kill — proved superior 
to all the attractions of the Tulpehocken 
meadows ! 

The other, and probably the far smaller, 
portion of the Pennsylvania migration tarried 
yet five years in Schoharie, as tho with linger- 
ing hope that some happy chance might yet 
save them from the necessity of removal from 
the beloved valley. Not until the spring of 
1728 did they finally decide to join their coun- 
trymen in the south. No account is left of 
the route or method of their journey, but it is 
probable that they followed the course already 
described by the former company. Their 
leader and chief was Conrad Weiser, of whom 
some things should be written, as of a charac- 
ter and influence worthy of very high regard. 

We have noted that he was twelve years old 
at the time of the emigration of his people from 
the Palatinate, having had his birth at Herren- 
berg on November 2, 1696. He was kept at 
school through boyhood until the departure of 
the family to England, and in after-life he 



The Dispersion 285 

gave abundant proof of a well-disciplined and 
thoughtful mind. There are, indeed, many 
writings from the hands of the two Weisers 
which furnish evidence of a high degree of 
intellectual and moral culture, and, for them- 
selves at least, rebut the imputation of ignor- 
ance cast at all this people. In the first 
months of the settlement at Schoharie, a friend- 
ship was formed by the Weisers with an Indian 
chief of the Mohawks, named Quagnant, who 
conceived a special liking for Conrad, then six- 
teen years of age, and proposed to take the 
lad into his own country and teach him the 
Indian langfuaee. The father consented, and 
young Conrad himself, seeing a prospect of 
adventure, was nothing loathe. He spent a 
large part of the winter and following spring 
in the lodge of Quagnant, and made such pro- 
gress in his study of the Indian language that, 
at once on his return, his services as inter- 
preter were in demand. This service found fre- 
quent demands, not only at Schoharie, but in 
Pennsylvania in his later years. He endured 
great hardships among the Indians, not from 
any hostility — tho several times in danger 
of death by the hand of drunken braves — but 



286 The Palatines 

from the manner of life he was compelled to 
lead. The food was unwholesome and scanty, 
and his clothing was insufficient ; but the lad 
showed no little grit in remaining until he had 
completed his linguistic task.* From this so- 
journ Conrad retained a constant friendship 
for the Indians, and at various times made pro- 
tracted visits among them. It is supposed that 
much of the time between the departures of 
the first and second companies to Pennsylvania 
was so spent by him, as his known position 
and influence had made him specially obnoxious 
to the five partners. 

Out of this intimacy with the Indians came 
the tale that the wife of Conrad was an In- 
dian, to which tale the fact that the woman's 
patronymic is not recorded gives color. Con- 
rad wrote, "In 1720, while my father was 
in England, I married my Anna Eve, and 
was given in marriage by the Rev. John Fr. 
Hager, a Reformed clergyman, on the 23d 
of November, in my father's house at Scho- 
harie." In the families of Weiser and Muhl- 
enberg there has been no little dispute as 
to the Indian origin of this Anna Eve. The 

* Rupp's Berks Co., p. 195 ; Lije of Weiser, 



The Dispersion 287 

arguments in favor are found in the Indian 
friendship and sojourns of young Weiser, the 
absence of a surname, and the fact that the 
marriage took place at the home of the groom, 
as tho the bride had no Christian home of 
her own from which to go to her husband. 
These are foundation enough for a legend, 
but furnish little by way of proof, and are fully 
met by the supposition that the young woman 
may have been a Redemptioner, bound out to 
service until the amount of her passage-money 
had been paid. Among the Germans coming 
to this country, during the early years of the 
last century, there were very many so indent- 
ured, whose surnames were lost, and after- 
wards had no other home or surname than 
those of their masters. As to Conrad's wife, 
her son-in-law, Muhlenberg, in the Hallische 
Nachrichten, declares that she was " a German 
Christian maiden of Evangelical parentage." 
This would seem to be with sufficient authority, 
and to justify the language of Weiser's biog- 
rapher : " We hesitate not to write her a full- 
blooded Palatine woman." 

After Weiser's removal to Pennsylvania 
and settlement at Womelsdorf, to which place 



288 The Palatines 

he gave beginning and name, he soon acquired 
position and influence. He was recognized 
as the chief person in the German settlements, 
and was frequently employed on important 
missions by the Governor and Council, espec- 
ially upon those in which his knowledge of 
the Indian tongue made him useful. He has 
left several very interesting treatises on the 
Indian character, in which his special inquiry 
is as to the openness of the mind of the red 
men to the approach of religious teaching. 
There was evidently much of a missionary 
spirit in the man, and he is described as of 
"unbounded benevolence, a man of integrity, 
and universally respected." In many ways, 
not only his own community, but the provincial 
authorities relied greatly on his knowledge, 
judgment, and efficiency in all affairs committed 
to him. He was associated with Franklin and 
other men of importance in various matters of 
public concernment. Shortly after his settle- 
ment in Pennsylvania the Governor gave him 
a commission as colonel ; and both in the fre- 
quent Indian difficulties and through the dis- 
turbances of the French War he proved the 
worthiness of his rank. The only recorded 



The Dispersion 289 

act of Weiser, which seems to reflect discredit, 
is his signing the petition for the disarming of 
the Roman CathoHcs, at the time of the 
French War. The aspect of this petition was, 
of course, quite contrary to the spirit of Penn, 
and also to the usual feelings of Weiser him- 
self. The intent of it — and this needs to be 
noted — was not for religious ends, but for the 
protection of the colony. There were many 
Roman Catholics in the province, about whom 
public rumor busied itself with the suspicion 
that they would ally themselves, with their fel- 
low-religionists from Canada, against the peace 
of the colony and the rights of King George. 
The suspicion was utterly baseless, and may 
be reckoned as one of those unreasonable 
" scares," which are apt to take possession of 
the mind in times of public excitement. For 
the moment this suspicion obtained wide cre- 
dence ; and a bill in accord with the petition 
was passed by the Assembly. The law, how- 
ever, was not generally executed, the second 
thought of the government having discerned 
its needlessness. 

Weiser was of positive religious convic- 
tions and, save for a short period, a staunch 

19 



290 The Palatines 

Lutheran. His friend and pastor, John Peter 
Miller, a native of the Palatinate and graduate 
of Heidelberg, led Weiser with himself into 
the Seventh Day Baptist Association at 
Ephrata. Miller remained in that commun- 
ion until his death in 1796, but Weiser soon 
retired. His house became the home of 
Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, the "Patriarch 
of Lutheranism " in America, from the time 
that that apostle came to this country in 1742. 
Not long thereafter — and this is part of 
the story of the Palatines no less than of 
the sketch of Weiser — Muhlenberg married 
Weiser's daughter and became the father 
of a celebrated progeny. No less than three 
of his. sons were alike clergymen, soldiers, 
and statesmen, serving with distinction in pul- 
pit, army. Congress, and other civil offices. 
Frederick was Speaker of the first national 
House of Representatives. One brother was 
a foreign minister. Another was distin- 
guished as a writer and scientist. Of the 
eldest, Peter, it is told that he was, at the out- 
break of the Revolution, a pastor in Virginia, 
and took leave of his church in most dramatic 
fashion. Urged by Washington, who was a 



The Dispersion 291 

personal friend, to accept a commission as 
colonel in the Continental army, he consented 
and at once preached his farewell to his peo- 
ple. He told them that there was a time for 
everything — "a time to preach and a time to 
pray ; but there is also a time to fight, and 
that time has now come." So saying, he 
threw off his gown and stood full dressed in 
his colonel's uniform. Going down from the 
pulpit and out of the church, he bade the 
drums to be beat for recruits, when more than 
three hundred of his congregation enlisted on 
the spot. 

A great grandson of the Patriarch Muhlen- 
berg was the sainted William A. Muhlen- 
berg, so long known, venerated, and loved 
in New York, and whose name has to-day so 
sweet a fragrance in the entire American 
Church. There have been few families in 
American annals that have been more illus- 
trious than that of the Muhlenbergs. The 
founder of it, tho dead over a hundred 
years, is still spoken of as " Father Muhlen- 
berg" throughout Pennsylvania. Many of 
his descendants have laid their country under 
debts of gratitude and reverence ; and it will 



292 The Palatines 

be borne in mind, as one reason of their men- 
tion here, that in those descendants the blood 
of Weiser had equal share with that of him 
whose name they bore. And, indeed, without 
this Weiser infusion, the Muhlenbergs would, 
of themselves, come within the claims made on 
our respect and gratitude by the German and 
Palatine contingents to our American society 
and state. 

Of the elder Weiser, John Conrad, but 
little mention is made after his return from 
England in 1723. His place as leader had 
during his absence been taken by his son, who 
tells in his private journal of a mission to 
New York : 

" I was sent," he writes, " in the early part of 1721 
to New York, to Gov. Burnett to hand him a petition. 
He received me kindly, and informed me that he had 
received instructions from the Lords of Trade, which 
he had resolved to follow implicitly." 

This petition doubtless had reference to the 
Palatine claim to Schoharie, and the instruc- 
tion must have been that, already alluded to, to 
settle the Palatines " on such convenient lands 
as are not already disposed of." John Conrad 
on his return to Schoharie seems to have been 



The Dispersion 293 

quite willing to yield all leadership to the 
more active Conrad. It is not at all improb- 
able that he came back broken in health and 
spirit. Certainly, he was hampered in domes- 
tic life. While yet upon the Manor he had 
married again, and most unfortunately for his 
own peace and his children's welfare. To them 
the woman was cruel, and to him an Irritation, 
destroying both contentment and usefulness. 
It is probable that he went with his son to 
Pennsylvania, where, however, he did not re- 
main. The details of his after-life and the 
time and place of his death are not recorded. 
As for the son, Conrad ; after twenty years of 
useful and beneficent service in Pennsylvania, 
he died at Womelsdorf in i 760. 

The number of families p^olno- from Scho- 
harie to Pennsylvania was about sixty. These 
established themselves in the region of the 
Tulpehocken and Swatara. There they found- 
ed a community, which from the first was 
prosperous, and soon exerted a magnetic 
power to draw thither thousands of their coun- 
trymen from over the sea. The treatment 
received from the authorities was kindly and 
generous. Shortly after their settlement, the 



294 The Palatines 

chief, Sassouan, complained to the Council at 
Philadelphia of their intrusion on the Tulpe- 
hocken lands. He was grown old, he said, 
and had never been paid for the lands, and his 
children now had no place to live in. His 
claim was satisfied and the Germans confirmed 
in possession of the lands. To these lands, 
which afterwards were delimited as Lebanon 
and Berks counties, came a large proportion of 
the German immigration, which at once began 
to flow in with so great a volume. The map 
of these counties, as that of the Mohawk, 
shows in the names of its towns, many of which 
names were brought from the Palatinate, how 
almost exclusively this Palatine and German 
element has peopled that country. 

As already noted, the influx from the old 
country had begun before the company had 
gone from Schoharie. The movement was 
accelerated and increased by the reports sent 
back to Europe of the kind treatment accorded 
by the Pennsylvania authorities to the immi- 
gration of 1 71 7 and to the colony from 
Schoharie. The poor and oppressed of the 
Palatinate and neighboring States realized that 
at last a secure asylum was opened. Into it 



The Dispersion 295 

they flocked in a steady stream. Within 
twenty years of the settlement at Tulpehocken 
their number in the province had increased to 
nearly fifty thousand, of whom a list of over 
thirty thousand names is preserved in the 
State archives at Harrisburg. Very many of 
them were poor and unable to pay for their 
passage, and on arrival at Philadelphia were 
put up at public auction to serve for a term of 
years, and thus became " Redemptioners." 
"They were usually sold at ;/^io for from 
three to five years' servitude. Many, after 
serving their time faithfully, became some of 
the most wealthy and influential citizens of the 
state." 

The unanimity with which these thousands 
avoided New York is remarkable, and is com- 
mented on in an interesting way by Peter 
Kalm, the Swedish traveller and naturalist. 
Speaking of the colony from Schoharie, he 
goes on to say : 

" Not satisfied with being themselves removed from 
New York, they wrote to their friends and relatives, if 
ever they intended to come to America, not to go to New 
York. This advice had such influence that the Ger- 

* Rupp's Berks Co., p. 92. 



296 The Palatines 

mans, who afterwards went in such numbers to America, 
constantly avoided New York and went to Pennsylvania. 
It sometimes happened that they were forced to take 
ships bound for New York, but they were scarce got on 
shore when they hastened to Pennsylvania, in sight of all 
the inhabitants of New York'' * 

The enormous — for those days — influx of 
these people into Pennsylvania occasioned at 
times no small alarm in the minds of some of 
the authorities and Enorlish inhabitants of the 
province. James Logan, the Secretary of the 
Province, wrote in 171 7, when the immigration 
had just begun, " We have of late great num- 
bers of Palatines poured in among us, without 
recommendation or notice, which gives the 
country some uneasiness, for foreigners do not 
so well among us as our own English people. "f 
The alarm did not spread to Jonathan Dick- 
inson, who, some years later, wrote : " We are 
daily expecting ships from London, which 
bring over Palatines, in number about six or 
seven thousand. We had a parcel who came 
out about five years ago, and proved quiet and 
industrious." These six thousand must be the 
immigration to which Logan refers in another 

* Penn, Hist. Mag., x., 388. f Rupp's Berks Co., p. 92. 



The Dispersion 297 

letter, in which he expresses a " fear lest the 
colony be lost to the crown " by reason of 
these foreigners. 

The desire for emigration seemed to be en- 
tirely appeased in the Palatinate from 171 7 to 
1 726. Then, and probably on account of let- 
ters from Tulpehocken, it assumed new and 
steadier force, which was increased by the im- 
position of heavier burdens by the Elector. 
For twenty years and more there was a steady 
outflow, and the ships, which brought the people 
to America, "plied between Rotterdam and 
Philadelphia with almost the regularity of a 
ferry." In consequence of this large and con- 
tinuous incoming of foreigners the authorities 
of the province felt called upon to take action 
such as no other immigration had compelled. 
The arrival of each ship, the numbers and 
names of the Palatines on board, were reported 
to the Council and put upon record. A special 
form of oath was devised for subscription by 
the newcomers, which recited, among other 
words : 

'' We Subscribers, Natives and late Inhabitants of the 
Palatinate upon the Rhine & Places adjacent . . . will 
be faithful and bear true allegiance to his present Ma- 



298 The Palatines 

JESTY King George the Second, and his Successors, 
Kings of Great Britain, and will be faithful to the Pro- 
prietor of this Province : and will demean ourselves 
peaceably , . . and strictly observe and conform to 
the Laws of England and of this Province." * 

This form was devised as a protection to the 
province, which the Council considered as pos- 
sibly " endangered by such numbers of stran- 
gers daily poured in, who being ignorant of 
our Language & Laws, & settling in a body 
together, make, as it were a distinct people 
from his Majesties Subjects." The subscription 
to this oath was required of all Germans com- 
ing to Pennsylvania until after 1750. The 
original lists, giving names of subscribers, the 
ships in which they were brought, and the dates 
of arrival, are still preserved at Harrisburg, 
and have been published in the Pennsylvania 
Archives, 2d Series, vol. xvii. They have 
also been published by Rupp. These lists con- 
tain over thirty thousand names. From the 
fact that all the subscribers were men, and 
presumably many of them heads of families, it 
is safe to conclude that this Palatine immigra- 
tion brought to the province, by the middle of 

* Poin. Col. Records, iii., 283. 



The Dispersion 299 

the eighteenth century, over sixty thousand 
souls. 

This outward flow from the Palatinate was so 
great that the committee at Rotterdam became 
alarmed. Their resources for forwarding the 
people and for caring for them while awaiting 
shipment were overtaxed, and they endeavored 
to discourage the spirit of emigration by the 
most forbidding tales of sorrowful experiences 
undergone by the emigrants, of which tales 
the following is a sample : 

" We learn from New York that a ship from Rotterdam, 
going to Philadelphia with one hundred and fifty Pala- 
tines, wandered twenty-four weeks at sea. When they 
finally arrived at port they were nearly all dead. The 
rest were forced to subsist on rats and vermin, and 
were very sick and weak." * 

This horrible example, however, did not prove 
a very powerful deterrent. The stream still 
kept on. 

Notwithstanding the alarm at first felt in the 
province because of so great importation of 
foreigners, the value of it to the community 
was not long in coming to official statement. 
In 1738 Lieutenant-Governor Thomas, making 

* Penn. Hist. Mag., ii. , 131. 



300 The Palatines 

an address to the Council touching some pro- 
posed measures of restriction, used the follow- 
ing most emphatic language : 

" This Province has been for some years the Asylum 
of the distressed Protestants of the Palatinate and other 
parts of Germany, and I believe it may with truth be 
said, that the present flourishing condition of it is in a 
great measure owing to the Industry of those People ; 
and should any discouragement divert them from com- 
ing hither, it may well be apprehended that the value of 
your Lands will fall, and your advance to wealth be much 
slower." * 

Some years afterwards there were certain out- 
croppings of disfavor towards the Palatines, 
which seem to have been of a political charac- 
ter. In 1755 Samuel Wharton published a 
pamphlet, in which he expressed great dread 
of German preponderance, and represented that 
that people were hostile to the government. 
" Instead of peaceable, industrious people as 
before, they have become insolent, sullen, and 
turbulent." In January of the same year a 
bill was introduced into the Council to limit 
the importation of Palatines. The Governor 
objected that the measure was inhuman. The 
bill caused great discussion both in the Coun- 

* Penn. Col. Jieconis, iii., 315. 



The Dispersion 301 

cil and out of it, and was referred to a com- 
mittee which presently reported it back with 
amendments, and also said, " But, as the differ- 
ence in sentiment was very great, and on points 
which the Assembly were very fond of, it was 
thought best to keep the Bill for some time, 
lest the Amendments might add to the Heat, 
already too great." In the following April — 
probably because "the Heat" had lessened — 
the bill was taken up and passed. But it was 
vetoed by the Governor ; * and that is the last 
we read of opposition to the Palatines in Penn- 
sylvania. By their steadiness, industry, frugal- 
ity, religious habitudes and patriotic devotion 
to their new country, they not only established 
their own prosperity, but also won their way 
to the regard of the province, upon which their 
coming had brought unmeasured blessing. Of 
such influence and impression most weighty 
testimony is borne by no less competent a 
judge than Benjamin Franklin, f who, in 1766^ 
testified before a committee of the British 
House of Commons that of the one hundred 
and sixty thousand whites in the Province of 

* f'enn. Col. Records, iv. , 225, 345 et seq. 
f Penn. Hist. Mag., x,, 391. 



302 The Palatines 

Pennsylvania about one third were Germans, 
and described them as "a people who brought 
with them the greatest of all wealth, — industry 
and integrity, and characters that had been 
superpoised and developed by years of suffer- 
ing and persecution." * 

At a much later day, after a hundred years 
had shown the fruitage of this Palatine seed, 
Judge Pennypacker, himself an offshoot of that 
stock, thus wrote : 

" No Pennsylvania names are more cherished at home 
and more deservedly known abroad than those of Wister, 
Shoemaker, Muhlenberg, Weiser, Heister, Keppile, and 
Keim, . . . and there are few Pennsylvanians, not com- 
paratively recent arrivals, who cannot be carried back 
along some of their ancestral lines to the country of the 
Rhine. . . . Pennsylvania is deeply indebted to the 
German settlers, who found a home within her borders, 
for the rapid advances which she early made towards 
prosperity. ... It is eminently proper that we of 
the present day should consider these causes — and the 
incentives which prompted these [people] from Switzer- 
land, Alsace, and the Palatinate, whose industry, frugal- 
ity, and integrity proved so beneficial to the Colony." 

Had this address of Judge Pennypacker 
been made in still more recent day, he might 
have added to his list of Pennsylvania's Pala- 

* Penn. Hist. Mag., iv., 3. 



The Dispersion 303 

tine worthies the names of Zollicoffer, Heint- 
zelman, and Siegel — names of honor among 
the soldiers of the Union in the War of the 
Rebellion. Worthy to be set also with these 
is that of Hartranft — borne by one of the 
most efficient governors of the State, and also 
by one of the most scholarly divines of the 
American Church. 

And to these, others of equal honor might 
be added. But there is no need. The story 
of these Palatine folk in Pennsylvania and in 
New York is in itself a sufficient evidence that, 
when they came over the sea, they brought 
with them qualities and virtues which any land 
might be glad to welcome, and that, like men 
of other stock, — the Puritan, Dutch, Hugue- 
not, — they conferred upon their new country 
blessings which it could not afford to lose. 





NOTE I. 



The following list of names, found in the records of 
the Palatine Immigrations and still common in the 
places settled by these people, suggests the sturdy and 
permanent quality of that stock. This list, be it said, 
is only fragmentary and suggestive, there being no need 
of complete transcription of those preserved in the rec- 
ords and archives of New York and Pennsylvania. The 
most of these names, it will be noted, retain to-day their 
original form. Any special changes from that form in 
modern use are noted with their originals : 



Becker. 

Kelmer, Kilmer. 
Wolleben and de Wolleben, 

Wolven. 
Man, Mann, 
Kremer, Kromer. 
Marterstork, Manterstock. 
Froelich, Freligh, Fralick, 
Egner. 
\/Richart, Rickard. 
Eckertin, Eckard, Eckert, 
^Emrich, Emerick. v 

305 



Werner, Warner 

Scheerer, Schearer. 

Kneiskern, Kniskern. 

Hart man. 

Conrad. 

Christian. 

Heiser. 

Herttranftt, Hartranft. 

Schnell. 

Schell. 

Nelles, Nellis. 

Dachstader, Dochstater. 



3o6 



The Palatines 



Meyer, Myer, Myers. 


Bellinger. 


Kuntz. 


Widerwachs, Weatherwax. 


Dietrich, Dedrick. 


Hagedorn. 


Turck. 


Schaffer, Schaeffer and 


Mynderse, 


Schoeffer, Shaver. 


Dietz. 


Leyer, Lawyer. 


Richtmeyer, Rightmyer. 


Kuhn, Koon, Coon. 


Seller. 


Winter. 


Wirtman, Wortman. 


Linck, Link. 


Sype. 


Schneider, Snyder, 


Bronner. 


Bauch, Bouck. 


Albrecht, Allbright. 


Kyser, Keiser, Keyser. 


Lichtner, Lintner. 


Segendorf. 


Aappell, Appell. 


Laux, Loucks. 


Acker, 


Fuchs, Fox. 


Bower. 


Webber, Weaver. 


Schurtz. 


Bernhard, Bernard. 


Muller. 


Arendorff, Allendorph. 


Deichert, Decker. 


Weygandt, Wygant, and 


Hoffman. 


many other forms. 


Ehle, Ehl, Uhl.* 


Christler. 


Jung, Young. 


Yeager. 


Nehr, Neahr. 


Brunner. 


Reisch, Rish. 


Hess, 


Hager. 


Wagner. 


Houck. 


Neff. 


Bergman. 


Funk, 


Weiser. 


Stickler, 


Angle, Angell. 


Gertner. 



♦From this stock in Dutchess Co., N, Y,, came Edwin F, Uhl, 
U. S. Ambassador to Berlin in 1896-7. 



Notes. 



307 



/ Schiltz, Schultz, Schultis. 
J Wolfe. 

Schumacher, Schoemaker. 

Schoonmaker. 

Baer. 

Wannermaker, Wana- 

maker. 
Newkirk. 
Klein, Cline. 
Planck, Plank. 
Sieknerin, Siekner, Signer. 
Bronck, Brink. 
Wormser. 

Hayd, Haight, and Hayt. 
Dill. 



Gentner. 

Schenefeldt, Shufelt. 

Keim. 

Dillinger, 

Schoup. 

Benker, Banker. 

Sullenger, Sellinger. 

Swartz, Swart. 

Michaells. 

Kiener, Keener. 

Diebenderf, Devendorf. 

Simmierman, Zimmerman, 

Siegler. 

Zollicoffer. 

Timmerman. 



This list might be indefinitely prolonged, but it is 
already sufficient for the purpose of illustration. 



SoS The Palatines 

NOTE II. 

The original Indentures by which Gov. Hunter ap- 
prenticed eighty-four of the Palatine children are pre- 
served in the Library of the State of New York, bound 
together in one volume. They are all alike, save as to 
dates, names, and sex. Some of them are signed by the 
Governor as party of the first part, and in others his 
name is signed without the signature of the master. 
None of the children, however, was bound to him. Most 
of the indentures are witnessed by J. S. Wileman, who 
occupied the office of Register. A specimen is given 
below. As the Indenture which bound Zenger to Brad- 
ford, it has a special interest of its own, 

" This Indenture, made the Twenty Sixth Day of 
October, A/ino Domini, 1710, and in the Ninth Year of 
the Reign of our Sovereign Lady Anne by the Grace of 
God of Great Britain, France and Ireland, Queen, De- 
fender of the Faith, &c. Between Flis Excellency 
Robert Hunter, Esqr ; Capt. General and Governor in 
Chief of the Provinces of New York, New Jersey, and 
Territories depending thereon in America, and Vice- Ad- 
miral of the same &c., of the one part. And William 
Bradford of the City of New York Printer, of the other 
part. Whereas his said Excellency in Council having 
determined the putting out of the Orphans of the Pala- 
tines (and some of those other Children whose Parents 
have too many to look after them and mind their La- 
bour) for a certain time, upon the Conditions following, 
{to wit) The Boys till they arrive at the Age of Twenty 
one years, and the Girls till they arrive at the Age of 
Nineteen years ; The Persons taking them entring into 



Notes. 309 

Indentures, and Bond with Surety, in the Secretary's 
Office, to provide them with good and wholesome Meat, 
Drink, Lodging and Cloathing, and at the Expiration of 
the time to Surrender them to the Government ; his 
Excellency and Council engaging they shall respec- 
tively Serve till they arrive at the Ages aforesaid. Now 
this Indenture IVitnesse/h, That John Peter Zenger of 
the Age of Thirteen years, or there-abouts, Son of Han- 
nah Zenger Widdow, one of the Palatines aforesaid, of 
his own free and voluntary Will by the Consent of the 
said Mother, and also By the consent and approbation 
of his Excellency, hath put himself out to the said Will- 
iam Bradford, his executors and administrators, with him 
and them to dwell and serve from the day of the date 
hereof for and during and unto the full end and term of 
Eight years from thence next ensuing and fully be Com- 
pleat and Ended, for all which said Term of Eight years 
the said John Peter Zenger the said William Bradford 
his executors, and administrators well and truly shall 
serve, his and their Commands lawful and honest every- 
where he shall do : The Goods of his said master his exe- 
cutors and administrators he shall not waste or destroy, 
nor from the Service of his said master his executors or 
administrators day nor night shall absent or prolong 
himself, but in all things as a good and faithful servant 
shall bear and behave himself towards his said master 
his executors & administrators during the said Term 
aforesaid. And the said William Bradford for himself 
his Executors and Administrators and every of them 
doth Covenant, Promise and Grant to and with his said 
Excellency and his Successors, that the said William 
Bradford his executors and administrators shall and 



3IO The Palatines 

will during all the said Term of Eight years find and 
provide for the said John Peter Zenger good, sufficient 
and wholesome Meat, Drink and Cloathing ; And also 
shall and will at the end and Expiration of the said 
Term of Eight years surrender and deliver up the said 
John Peter Zenger well Cloathed to his said Excellency, 
or to the Governour or Commander in Chief of the said 
Province of New York, for the time being. 

" In Witness whereof his said Excellency and the said 
William Bradford have hereunto Interchangeably set 
their Hands and Seals the day and year first above 
Written. 

"Will. Bradford, (seal) 

" Sealed and Delivered in the Presence of [the several 
interlineations aforesaid of ye words, Executors and 
Administrators being first Interlined.] 

" J. S. WiLEMAN.". 

Tho the form of indenture calls for the signature of 
the Governor, yet his name is not affixed to the paper 
under which Zenger was bound. A special and curious 
clause of the indenture is that which requires the sur- 
render to the Governor of the apprentices, on the expira- 
tion of their terms, instead of the usual turning over to 
their own mastership and guidance. What the Governor 
proposed to do with the young men and women thus 
returned to him does not appear, and it is not probable 
that he was at any time called upon to take further or- 
der about these boys and girls. By the time that their 
terms of service had expired his Excellency had quite 
given over any paternal care of the Palatines. 



Notes. 3" 

NOTE III. 

List of the authorities consulted and cited : 

Menzel's History of Germany. 

Lewis' History of Germany. 

Butler's Revolutions in Germany. 

Labberton's Historical Atlas. 

Macaulay's Essay on the War of the Succession. 

Macaulay's History of England. 

Mortimer's History of England. 

Smollett's History of England. 

Burnet's History of His Own Time. 

Luttrell's Diary. 

Learned's History for Ready Reference. 

Transactions of the Albany Institute, vol. vii. Article 
by Dr. Homes. 

Hawks' History of North Carolina. 

Martin's History of North Carolina. 

Williamson's History of North Carolina. 

Rumple's Rowan County, N. C. 

Virginia Historical Collections. 

Virginia Historical Society Papers. 

Campbell's History of Virginia. 

Cooke's History of Virginia. 

Magill's History of Virginia. 

Conway's Barons of the Potomac. 

Colonial History of the State of New York. 

Documentary History of the State of NewYork. (Quarto 
edition.) 

Lamb's History of the City of New York. 

Schuyler's Colonial New York. 

Booth's History of New York. 



312 The Palatines 

Smith's History of New York. 

Dunlap's History of New York. 

Calendar of Land Papers of New York. 

Magazine of American History, 187 1. 

Holmes' Annals. 

Addison's Spectator. 

Ruttenber's History of Orange County, N. Y. 

Ruttenber's Indian Tribes of Hudson River. 

Smith's History of Rhinebeck. 

Mellick's Story of an Old Farm. 

Sims' History of Schoharie. 

Brown's Sketch of Schoharie. 

Hopkins' Historical Mefnoirs of the Housattmnock 

Indians. 

Barber and Howe, Historical Collections. 
Parkman's Half Cenitiry of Conflict. 
Benton's History of Herkimer County, N. Y. 
Frothingham's Montgomery County, N. Y. 
Williamson's History of Maine. 
Barry's History of Massachusetts. 
Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts Bay. 
Pennsylvania Colonial Records. 
Pennsylvania Historical Magazine. 
Pennsylvania Magazine of History. 

Rupp's History of Berks County, Pa. 

C Z Weiser's Life of Conrad Weiser. 

H A. Muhlenberg's Life of Gen. Peter Muhlenberg. 

Miss Ayres' Life of Dr. IV. A. Muhlenberg. 

Sachse's German Pietists of Provincial Pennsylvania. 

Rupp's Collection of Thirty Thousand Names of Immi- 
grants to Pennsylvania. 

Various Cyclopaedias. 



INDEX. 



Acadians, 257 
Adams, Samuel, 139 
Adams, Sheriff, abused, 240 
Addison, Joseph, 106, m 
Alarm in Pennsylvania, 7, 296- 

300 
Albany, Charity of Dutch in, 

213 
Albany, Councils at, 242, 262, 

263 
Albany," "Gentlemen of, 222, 

234. 252 
Alexander, James, 136, 137 
Alsace, 21 
Andernach, 40 
Anne, Queen, 51, 79, 83 
Annsbury, 142 
Apprenticing children, 132 
Archives at Harrisburg, 295, 2()8 
Arrest of Palatines at All)any, 

252 
Atrocities of the war, 38 
Augsburg, League of, 36 
Augustine, 31 
Austria, 47 
Authorities, 18, Note III 

Baden, 21 

Bad Faith of Home Government, 

146, 177, 183, 189 
Barnstaple, 84 
Bavaria, 25, 36, 47 



Bayard, Col. Nicholas, 68, 115, 

note, 218, 228 
Bayard, Samuel, 218-222 
Bedford, 84 
Beekman, Henry, 206 
Bell, Church, 72 
Belletre, M. de, 278 
Bellomont, Lord, 119, 175, 219 
Benton, Judge, 7 
Berks County, Pa., 294 
Births at Schoharie, 255 
Blenheim, Battle of, 48 
Block Island, 127 
Boston, 224, 247 
Bouck, Gov. W. C, 272 
Bradford, William, 135 
Brandt's raid, 272 
Bread and Beer allowance, 166 
Bridger, John, 123, 175 
Brunnen-dorp, 2x7 
Burgoyne, 47 
Burnet, Bishop, 54 
Burnett, Gov., 205, 25S, 262, 

276, 292 
Burnetsfield Patent, 275 
Byrd, Col. William, loi 

Calvin 28 

Camps, East and West, 70, 142 

Canada Creek, 261 

Canajoharie, 261 

Cape Fear River, 87 



313 



314 



Index 



Carolina, Settlement in, 86 
Casks for tar, 159 
Cast, Mr., 150, 159, 168 
Certificate refused by Palatines, 

244. 245 
Chambers Creek, 66 
Charles, Elector Palatine, 27, 35 
Charles Louis, Elector Pal., 35 
Charles II. of Spain, 45 
Churches at the Camps, 71, 204, 

205 
Clarendon, Earl of, 189-191, 

227 
Clarke, Sec'y, 152, 158, 185, 244 
Coble's Kill, The, 217, 231 
Codweis, John Conrad, 68 
Coeymans, Andries, 234 
Colden, Cadwallader, 74, 205, 

218 
Cologne, 21, 40, 41 
Commissioners, English, 83 
Commission to England, 245 
Complaints at the Manor, 149 
Conradus, Octavius, 68 
Consistory of N. Y. Dutch 

Church, 213 
Contracts, go, 116, 155 
Cornbury, Lord, 190, 222, ttole 
Cosby, Gov. 135 
Court on the Manor, 159 
"Cujus regio, ejus religio," 31, 

45 

Dartmouth, Lord, 189 
De Lancey, Ch. Justice, 135 
Dellius, Dominie, 239 
Departure to Schoharie, 213 
Deputies from Schoharie, 245- 

251 
Desertions from the Manor, 163 
Dickinson, Jonathan, 296 
Disciples of Ephrata, 268 
Discontent, 150, 161, 170, 253, 

259, 262, 274 
Dispersions in England, 81 
Dongan, Gov. 66, 144, 192 
Dorps at Schoharie, 217 



Drachenfels, 40 

Dunkers, 268 

Du Pre 123, 140 

Dutch Church in N. Y., 213 

Elizabeth Charlotte, 35 
Elizabeth Town, 142 
Ephrata, 268, 290 
Erghimer, 267 
Eugene, Prince, 48 
Evans, Capt. John, 66 
Expenses on Palatine account, 
79, i83 

Failure, Causes of, 171 
Farrar, 86 

" Five Partners," see Partners 
Fletcher, Gov. 62, 66, 115, note, 

218 
Fountaintown, 217 
Fox Creek, 211, 217, 231 
Franklin, Benjamin, 288, 301 
Frederick III. of Zimmern, 26, 

29 
French and Indian attacks on 

Mohawk, 278, 279 
French War, 152, 289 
Fuch's Dorp, 217 

Ganendagaren, 261 

Garloch's Dorp, 273 

Garloch, Elias, 260, 273 

Gates, General, 17 

Gazette, New York, 136 

Genealogy, v 

Generosity of England, 13, 79, 92 

Geneva, 28 

Georgetown, 142 

Gerlach, John Christ, 232 

German Flats, 277 

Germanna, 98, 99 

German Patent, 66, 69 

Germantown, N. Y., 145, 205 

Germantown, Pa., 268 

Gibraltar, 49 

Glebe, 64, 69, 74 

Glebe School House, 72 



Index 



315 



Governor's Island, 126 
Graffenried, Cristopher de, 86 
Giaffenried, Metcalf de, 98 
Grand Alliance, 37 
Grants, Fraudulent, 62, 66, 218, 

239 
Grievances," "Statement of, 
161, 225, 237, 242, 243, 246 



Hagatom, Christophel, 205 
Hager, Rev. John Fred., 70, 

204, 254, 286 
Halberstadt, 60 
Hamilton, Andrew, 137 
Hartman's Dorp, 260 
Hartman Vinedecker, 262 
Hartranft, 303 
Hay, Lady, iii, 122 
Haysbury, 142 
Heidelberg, 21,40, 43 
Heidelberg Catechism, 30 
Heidelberg, Pa., 283 
Heintzelman, 303 
Helderburg Mts., 211, 213 
Henneman, Prof., 102 
Herbert Frigate, 127 
Herkimer, Nicholas, 17, 267, 

277, 279, 280, 281 
Herkimer, City of, 277 
Herrenberg, 284 
Herschias, 71 
Historian, Duty of, 5 
Holland, 37, 57 
Holstein, 63 
Homes, Dr. 52, 55, 253 
Horses, Return of, 283 
House of Commons, Report to, 

51, 197-200 
Hudson River, 114, 141 
Huguenots, 36 
Hunter, Gov., 103, 1 11, 156, 170, 

178-187, 242, 244 
Huntersfield, 232 
Hunter's Resentment, 214, 226, 

235, 238, 243, 249, 254 
Hunterstown, 142 



Ignorance, Charge of, 4, 207, 221, 
236, 273 

Immigration to New Jersey, 60 ; 
of 1709,63; of 1710, 2, 3, 
chap. iv. ; of 1717 to Pennsyl- 
vania, 264 ; of religionists to 
Penna. , 268 ; character of, 10 ; 
causes of, chap, ii., 75 ; vol- 
ume of, 7, 76, 84, 265, 294-298 

Indentures of children, 132, 
Note II 

Indian Councils at Albany, 242, 
262 

Indian Embassy to England, 104 

Indian Gift of Schoharie, 107, 
115, 131, 212, 228 

Indians of Carolina, 96 

Influence of Palatines, 5, 15, 299, 
301 

Ingoldsby, Col., 165 

Ingoldsby, Lt. Gov., 67 

Ireland, Settlement in, 85 

Iron mines in Virginia, 100 

James II. of England, 37, 47 
Johnson, Guy, 280, 281 
Johnson, Sir William, 280 
John William, Elector Palatine, 

27, 44, 55. 59. 297 
yoiirnal^New York Weekly, 136 
Julich, 41 
Justices, Palatine, 129 

Kaatsbaan, 143 

Kalm, Peter, 295 

Karigondonte, 209 

Keith, Sir William, 263, 281 

Kelpius, 268 

Kidd, Captain, 193 

Kill, Roeloff Jansen's, 144 

" King of the Palatines," 95 

Kingsbury, 204 

Kingston, Justices of, 163 

Kniskern's Dorp, 217 

Kockerthal, 61, 65, 70, 130, 254 

Kohl, 86 



3i6 



Index 



Kreuznach, 40 
Kuckheim, 40 

Labadists, 268 

Land agents in Palatinate, 51, 

53. 56 

Land Grants, Extravagant, 62, 
66, 218, 239; at Schoharie, 
228-235 ; on the Mohawk, 
239, 260, 261, 275, 282 

Land troubles at Schoharie, 218, 

239 
Lawson, John, 95 
Lawyer's Purchase, 235 
Lebanon County, Pa., 294 
Legend of Palatine Light, 127 
Leisler, 184, 192 
Leopold, Emperor, 42, 46 
List-masters, 160 
Livingston Manor, 143, 194,205, 

206 
Livingston, Robert, 134, 141. 
159, 166, 189, 190-196, 205, 
227 
Livingston, Robert, Jr., 193, 221 

Logan, James, 296 

London, Palatines in, 76 

Long Island, 127 

Lorraine, 21 

Louis the Severe, 26 

Louis XIV., 34 

Lovelace, Lord, 62, 69, no, 120 

Lutheran Church in N. Y., 144 

Lutheranism in the Palatinate, 28 

Lyon, Ship, 126 

Macaulay, 4, 39 

Maintenon, Mad. de, 36, 38 

Mainz, 21 

Manisees Island, 127 

Mannheim, 21, 40, 41 

Mannheim, N. Y., 277 

Marlborough, 48 

Melac, 39 

Mennonites in Pennsylvania, 268 

Michell, Lewis, 86, 94 



Middleburgh, N. Y., 210,222, 

217, 272 
Middle Line of Palatinate, 26 
Migration from Newburgh, 73 
Miller, Rev. John Peter, 290 
Misunderstandings, i, 50, 236 
Mohawk River, 114, 122, 260; 
Fall of, 140 ; German names 
on, 277 ; Settlement on, 272, 
277-281 
Money, Failure of, 164, 169, 170, 

177--183, 244 
Montclas, 38, 49 
Moravians, 268 
Morris Jr., Lewis, 234 
Mortality at sea, 125 ; in first 

year, 145 
Muhlenberg, Frederick, 290 
Muhlenberg, Henry Melchior, 

17, 286, 290-292 
Muhlenberg, Peter, 291 
Muhlenberg, William A., 291 
Munster, 86 
Murmurs of London poor, 197, 

199 
Murphy, the Indian fighter, 272 
Mutiny on the Manor, 150 

Name-Lists, vi., vii., 265, Note 

1. 
Nantes, Edict of, 36, 38 
Naturalization Act, 52, 63, 197- 

200 
Naval Stores, 62, 109, 114, "6, 

118, 140, 142, 146, 158, 165, 

171-175, 191, 201-203 
Neuburg, House of, 27, 66 
Neuse River, 87, 93, 95 
New Berne, 93 
Newborn, 268 
Newburgh, 66, 74 
New Forest of Hampshire, 83 
New Foundland fisheries, 84 
Newington, Parish of, 80 
New Jersey, Settlement in, 60, 

263 
Newkirk, 277 



Index 



317 



New Village, J42 

New York, Avoidance of, 295 

New York, Influence of Palatines 

on, 16, 74, 146, 207, 271, 277 
Nicholson, Col., 104, 155 
Number of Palatines in 1718, 

250-255 
Nutten Island, 126, 129, 131, 

267 

Oath subscribed by Palatines, 

297 
Ober-Weiser's Dorp, 229 
Old Stone Church at Schoharie, 

218, 272 
Olevian, 29 

Oppenheim, N. Y., 277 
Oppression in America, 14, 

chaps, v., vi. 
Oriskany, Battle of 16, 281 
Otho, Count Palatine, 26 
Oudenarde, Battle of, 48 

Palatinate, Division of, 26 ; Ori- 
gin of name, 22 

Palatine, Bridge, 277 ; Town of, 
277 ; Count, 22 ; Count, in 
England, 23 ; in Hungary, 23 ; 
Elector, 26 ; Light and Ship, 
Legend of, 127 ; Houses, 80 ; 
Parish by Quassaic, 69, 74 ; 
Poem of The, 128 

Palatines in French and Indian 
War 277, 278 , in Revolution, 
280, 281 

Partners," " Five, 222, 239, 241, 
252 ; Seven, 234 

Patents at Schoharie, 228-235 

Pennsylvania, Influence of Pala- 
tines on, 12, 299-303 

Pennsylvania, Migration to, 73, 
263, 269-271, 281, 284, 293 

Pennypacker, Judge, 302 

Pfalz, The, 21 

Philadelphia, 60, 266 

Philip of Anjou, 47, 49 

PhlHp of Orleans, 35 



Philip V. of Spain, 47 

Philip William, 27, 40, 44 

Philippsberg, 40 

Philipse, Justice, 135 

Pietists, 268 

Pine, see Naval Stores 

Pine, varieties of, 173 

Pirates, 247 

Pitch, see Naval Stores 

Political foresight, 139 

Politics, Relation to English, 196 

Pollock, Thomas, 98 

Poor of London, Murmurs of, 

197, 199 
Popple, Sec'y, 182, 187, 258 
Poverty of immigrants, 3, 77, 

295 
Premium on Naval Stores, 116, 

120, 191 
Press, Freedom of the, 5, 135- 

139 
Prussia, 47 

Punishments on the Manor, 160 
Purchase at Schoharie, 210, 225 

Quagnant, Chief, 285 
Quassaick, 66 
Quebec, 279 
Queensbury, 142 
Quit-rents, 230 

Ramillies, Battle of, 48 

Ratisbon, Diet of, 42 

Redemptioner, 287, 295 

Reformed Church at German- 
town, N. Y., 205 

Religious, liberty, 12, 31 ; sects 
in Pennsylvania, 268 ; troubles 
in the Palatinate, 27-33, 55 

Restrictive legislation, 9, 59, 
297-301 

Revolution, Palatines in the, 16, 
280, 281 

Rhine, The, 21, 34, 41 

Rhinebeck, 207 ; History of, 228 

Roman Catholics among the 

emigrants, 82 ; in Pennsyl- 

I vania, petition to disarm, 289 



3i8 



Index 



Rotterdam, Committee at, 57, 

76, 266, 299 
Rozin, see Naval Stores 
Rudolf and Rudolphine Line of 

the Palatinate, 26 
Ruins on the Rhine, 41 
Rupp, vi., 298 
Ryswick, Peace of, 43 

Sackett, Richard, 158, 159 

"Sallary" for Kockerthal, 63 

Sassouan, Chief, 271, 293 

Saugerties, 142, 145 

Sawyer's Creek, 141 

Scheff, 246, 250 

Schemes for settlement, 83 

Schenectady, 218, 241 

Schoharie, 107, 108. 115, 132, 
140, 149, 154, 156, 169, 208, 
211, 216, 218, 239, 250, 271- 

273 
Schuyler, John, 221 
Schuyler, Myndert, 221 
Schuyler, Peter, 104 
Schuyler, Philip, 232, 234 
Schwenkfelders, 268 
"Servants to the Crown," 114, 

117, 149, 161 
"Seven Partners," 234 
Seventh-Day Baptists of Eph- 

rata, 290 
Sharpe, Jacob, 205 
Shenandoah Valley, loi 
Sheriff of Albany, 240 
Shoemaker, Jacob, 205 
Shute, Governor, 177 
Siegel, General, 303 
Simmeren, see Zimmem 
Sims, J. R., 220, 283 
Smith, E. M., 228 
Smith, Lawrence, 166 
Smith, William, 136, 137 
Soldiers on the Manor, 160, 165 
Soldiers, Palatine, 280 
Sources of information, 18 
Spanish Succession, 46-50 
Spectator^ The, 106 



" Speculation, Objects of," 11, 

51 
Spires, 21, 40, 41 
Spotswood, Governor, 99 
Staats, Samuel, 231, 232 
St. Germain, 37, 47 
St. Leger, 17, 28 
St. Olaves, 199 
Strasburg, Va. , loi 
Subsistence, Contract for, 166 
Sufferings, at Newburgh, 67 ; in 

Schoharie, 216 ; on the Manor, 

149, i6i 
Suspension of work, 163 
Susquehanna River, 283 
Swabia, 53 

Swatara River, 281, 283, 293 
Swiss Colonists, 89 

Tar, see Naval stores 
Tattler, The, 106 
Thankskamir, 66 
Thomas, Lt. Gov., 297 
Treves, 21, 38, 41 
Tulpehocken, The, 270, 283, 

293 
Turenne, 35 

Turpentine, see Naval Stores 
Tuscaroras, 96 

Ursinus, 29 
Utrecht, Peace of, 48 

Van Brugh, Peter, 221 

Van Dam, Rip, 231, 232, 234 

Van Rensselaer, Rev. Nicholas, 

192 
Versailles, 37 
Villages in Schoharie, 217 ; on 

the Hudson, 142 
Villars, Marshall, 49 
Vinedecker, Hartman, 262, 282 
Violence at Schoharie, 241, 253 
Virginia, Settlement in, 99 
Volume of immigration, 7, 76, 

84, 265, 294-298 



Index 



319 



Volunteers, Palatine, 145, 153, 

157 
Vroman, Adam, 222-225 
Vroman Patent, 229 
Vroman's Nose, 223 



Wahl, Edward, 280 

Walpole, 244 

Walrath, 246 

War of the Grand Alliance, 34 ; 

of Spanish Succession, 45-50 
Weiser, Conrad, 17, 75, 76, 124, 

224, 225, 252, 259, 262, 282, 

284-293 
Weiser, John Conrad, 130, 131, 

134. 153. 160, 224, 240, 242, 

246-251, 292 
Weiser's Dorp, 217, 229, 240 
Wharton's pamphlet against the 

Palatines, 300 
Whittier, 128 
Wileman, Henry, 221 
Wileman, J. S., 306 
William the Silent, 32 



William III. of England, 37, 42, 

43, 47 
Winchenbach, 71 
Wine culture, no 
Wissahickon, 268 
Wittenberg, 28 
Wolfenbuttel, 60 
Wolven, Godfried De, 233 
Womelsdorf, 2S7 
Women, Palatine, 241 
Woollen manufacture, 115, iiS 
Worms, 21 
Wurtemburg, 21, 42 

York, Lewis, 233 
York, William, 233 

Zeh, Magdalena, 241 

Zeiher, Herr, 44 

Zenger, John Peter, 135-139, 

Note II 
Zimmern Line of the Palatinate, 

26, 27 
ZoUicoffer, General, 303 



'iiiS^'^ 




tTbe Stori^ of tbe IFlationa 



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The " Stories " are printed in good readable type, and 
in handsome i2mo form. They are adequately illustrated 
and furnished with maps and indexes. Price, per vol., 
cloth, $1.50. Half morocco, gilt top, $1.75. 

The following are now ready : 



GREECE. Prof. Jas. A. Harri- 
son. 

ROME. ArthurGilman. 

THE JEWS. Prof. James K.Hos- 
mer. 

CHALDEA. Z.A. Ragozin. 

GERMANY. S. Baring-Gould. 

NORWAY. Hjalmar H. Boye- 
sen. 

SPAIN. Rev. E. E. and Susan 
Hale. 

HUNGARY. Prof. A.Vambery. 

CARTHAGE. Prof. Alfred J. 
Church. 

THE SARACENS. Arthur Gil- 
man. 

THE MOORS IN SPAIN. Stan- 
ley Lane-Poole. 

THE NORMANS. Sarah Orne 
Jewett. 

PERSIA. S. G. W. Benjamin. 

ANCIENT EGYPT. Prof. Geo. 
Rawlinson. 

ALEXANDER'S EMPIRE. Prof. 
J. P. Mahaffy. 

ASSYRIA. Z. A. Ragozin. 

THE GOTHS. Henry Bradley. 

IRELAND. Hon. Emily Lawless. 

TURKEY. Stanley Lane-Poole. 

MEDIA, BABYLON, AND PER- 
SIA. Z. A. Ragozin. 

MEDl/EVAL FRANCE. Prof. 
Gustave Masson. 

HOLLAND. Prof. J. Thorold 
Rogers. 

MEXICO. Susan Hale. 

PHGENiCIA. Geo. Rawlinson. 



THE HANSA TOWNS. Helen 

Zimmern. 
EARLY BRITAIN. Prof. Alfred 

J. Church. 
THE BARBARY CORSAIRS. 

Stanley Lane-Poole. 
RUSSIA. W. R. Morfill. 
THE JEWS UNDER ROME. W. 

D. Morrison. 
SCOTLAND. John Mackintosh. 
SWITZERLAND. R. Stead and 

Mrs. A. Hug. 
PORTUGAL. H. Morse Stevens. 
THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE. C. 

W. C. Oman. 
SICILY. E. A. Freeman. 
THE TUSCAN REPUBLICS. 

Bella Duffy. 
POLAND. W. R.iMorfill. 
PARTHIA. Geo. Rawlinson. 
JAPAN. David Murray. 
THE CHRISTIAN RECOVERY 

OF SPAIN. H.E. Watts. 
AUSTRALASIA. Greville Tre- 

garthen. 
SOUTHERN AFRICA. Geo. M. 

Theal. 
VENICE. AletheaWiel. 
THE CRUSADES. T.S.Archer 

and C. L. Kingsford. 
VEDIC INDIA. Z.A. Ragozin. 
BOHEMIA. C.E.Maurice. 
CANADA. J. G. Bourinot. 
THE BALKAN STATES. Wil- 
liam Miller. 
BRITISH RULE IN INDIA. R. 

Wi Frazeri 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



THE STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

A Concise Account of the War in the United States of America between 
1861 and 1S65. By John Codman Ropes, author of " The Army 
Under Pope," " The First Napoleon," etc. To be completed in three 
parts, printed in three octavo volumes. Each part will be complete in 
itself and will be sold separately. Part I. Narrative of Events to the 
Opening of the Campaign of 1862. With 5 maps, Bvo, $1.50. 

" His (Mr. Rope's) name bespeaks for him instant attention on any subject on which 
he may write. He is putting the student of American history under immeasurable obli- 
gations by laying this philosophical, two-sided, and expert disquisition on our civil 
war before him. A just narrator and critic." — Detroit Free Press. 

FRANCE UNDER MAZARIN. 

With a Sketch of the Administration of Richelieu. By James Breck 
Perkins. With photogravure portraits of Mazarin, Richelieu, Louis 
XIII., Anne of Austria, and Conde. Two volumes, Bvo, $4.00. 

"Our pleasure in reading it has been so great that we fear only that we shall use 
language that seems too laudatory. . . . ' France under Richelieu and Mazarine will 
introduce its author into the ranks of the first living historians of our land. He is never 
dry, he never lags, he is never prolix ; but from the first to the last, his narrative 
is recorded airrente calaino, as of a man who has a firm grasp upon his materials," — 
N. Y, Christiaii Lhiion. 

OLIVER CROMWELL: A HISTORY. 

Comprising a Narrative of his Life, with Extracts from his Letters and 
Speeches, and an Account of the Political, Religious, and Military 
Affairs of England during his Time. By Samuel Harden Church. 
With portrait and plans of Marston Moor and Naseby. 8vo, $3.00. 

THE WINNING OF THE WEST 

And Southwest, from the Alleghanies to the Mississippi, 1 769-1 790. By 
Theodore Roosevelt. With maps. 3 vols., 8vo, each, $2.50. 

A HISTORY OF THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR. 

By Anton Grindely, Professor of German History in the University of 
Prague, Translated by Andrew Ten Brook, recently Professor of 
Menial Philosophy in the University of Michigan. With twenty-eight 
illustrations and two maps. With an introductory and a concluding 
chapter by the Translator. 2 vols., Bvo, $3.50. 

THE WRITINGS OF THOMAS PAINE. 

Political, Sociological, Religious, and Literary. Edited by Moncure 
Daniel Conway, with introductioii and notes. To be completed in 
four volumes, uniform with Mr. Conway's " Life of Paine." Price per 
volume, cloth, $2. 50. Vols. I., II., and III., now ready. 

GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS, 

And the Struggle of Protestantism for Existence. By C. R. L. Fletcher, 
M.A., Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. 8vo, fully illustrated. $1.50 

"We know of no book that so clearly and satisfactorily covers this confused but 
deeply significant period of European history, and we know of no more consistent and 
intelligent account of one of its master spirits. — Christian Union. 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS - - Publisiers 



FRENCH HISTORY. 



OLD COURT LIFE IN FRANCE. 

By Frances Elliot, author of " The Diary of an Idle Woman in 
Italy," etc., etc. Two volumes, illustrated with portraits and 
views of some of the old chateaux. Small 8vo . . $4.00 
Half calf extra, gilt tops ...... 8.00 

One hundred copies on Large Paper, with Pi-oofs of the 
Illustrations on yapanese Vellum Paper. These copies are 
numbered, and bound in buckram, with gilt tops and rough 
edges. Two vols, royal octavo, in box . . . $15.00 

WOMAN IN FRANCE DURING THE EIGHTEENTH 
CENTURY. 

By Julia Kavanagh. Two volumes, illustrated with portraits on 

steel. Small Svo $4.00 

Half calf extra, gilt tops ...... 8.00 

One hundred copies issued on Large Paper, with Proofs of the 
Illustrations on India Paper, These copies are numbered, and 
bound in buckram, with gilt tops and rough edges. Two vols, 
royal octavo, in box ....... $15,00 

NAPOLEON, 

Warrior and Ruler, and the Military Supremacy of Revolutionary 
France. By W. O'Connor Morris. Fully illustrated. Cloth, 

$1.50 
Half leather, gilt tops ....... 1.75 

NAPOLEON. 

By Alexandre Dumas. Translated from the French by John B. 
Larner. Cloth $1.50 

•y^ FRANCE UNDER MAZARIN. 

With a sketch of the administration of Richelieu. By James Breck 
Perkins, author of "France under the Restoration," etc., etc. 
With photogravure portraits of Mazarin, Richelieu, Louis XIII., 
Anne of Austria, and Conde. Two volumes, Svo . $4.00 



\ 



G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 

new YORK LONDON 

37 WEST TWENTV-THIRD ST. I.j PFDFORD ST., STRANP 



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